


Dangansona

by Nata_Disaster



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Persona Series
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, I’m going to add more to the tags as the story progresses, M/M, Multiple Pov, Mystery, Persona AU, Slow Burn, sort of as a way of not promising something that doesn’t exist yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-23 07:15:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 55
Words: 221,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23874403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nata_Disaster/pseuds/Nata_Disaster
Summary: Hajime Hinata’s life is boring. A completely normal school life. But following a string of murders at Hope’s Peak Academy, Hajime finds himself thrown into a life he always asked for, but soon comes to realise he may have never wanted. A year long adventure awaits, with a foreboding despair always lingering in the background...
Relationships: Hinata Hajime & Chabashira Tenko, Hinata Hajime & Naegi Makoto, Hinata Hajime & Saionji Hiyoko, Kirigiri Kyoko & Saihara Shuichi, Koizumi Mahiru/Saionji Hiyoko (One Sided), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 191
Kudos: 167





	1. Preface

So first off, yes that title is pending. 

Before the story starts, I just wanted to lay down a few of changes I made to the Danganronpa world for this story to work, and some of the inspiration I took for bits and pieces of the first few chapters. I thought I should make this it’s own chapter just for the sake of not putting this in one giant notes section for the prologue or first chapter. 

However, this is not required reading, you can move right along to the story without reading this at all. Just remember, if you are confused about something, chances are it might be explained here. Otherwise, just ask and I’ll answer as best I can. But if you also want some light disclaimers, here are the ones I think will be relevant:  
-while there will be many a pairing in this fic, this is not a smut story, and as such there won’t be any explicitly sexual acts performed within.  
-be warned, there will be character death, but I’m not going to detail every gory moment. It’s going to be more ‘made for TV’ style death than the Student Council killing game in DR3. 

The first big change was to how I structured Hope’s Peak. And I don’t mean it’s construction, in that regard I wanted it to be similar to its depiction in DR1. I mean how the education system works and the classes. Class 77, the DR2 cast are third years, DR1 cast are class 78 and second years, and the V3 cast are first years, in class 79. That ordering seems pretty natural, but what isn’t is the fact that I’ve upped the ages of the students. Kind of. Honestly, a big part of it was that I can’t imagine writing Miu in a world where she’s fifteen. But the age groups in Hope’s Peak are: first years are 16-17, second are 17-18, and third are 18-19. My circumnavigation of this was by having an unofficial trial year, to test out the classes of Ultimates, because I figured that would make sense in universe as well, considering all the shit that goes down because they didn’t do this in the first place. This change does not apply to the Reserve Course though, they work like normal school in Japan, but yes that does mean that Hajime is a year younger than everyone else in the DR2 cast, despite also being a third year, and this does also mean that Sato and Natsumi are a year younger than them as well. It’s things like that that made me want to write this part in the first place. 

Yes, this does take place in Japan, but my knowledge of the country is not exhaustive. I’ll try my best to include all the school holidays, but otherwise it won’t be excessively Japanese. I won’t be using honorifics, nor will I have everyone addressing each other by last name. 

Anything beyond this point will involve some slight story spoilers. Primarily who the Social Links are, as well as the ‘party members’ for this story, but there will be some plot spoilers so, uh...

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!! Yeah, That should suffice. 

Social Links: What they mean, why I chose them, and a few ‘behind the scenes’ pieces of info:

Fool: As in P3 and 4, the Fool Arcana in this story is linked directly with the team, but it is also intrinsically linked to Hajime, whose Arcana is also Fool, like other P3 onward protagonists. The Fool is representative of new beginnings, or a new journey in life. Obviously, that’s what this whole story is for the primary cast- a new adventure. This is also true of Hajime himself, as he becomes entangled within the world of the Ultimates thanks to the events of the story. On the flip side, the Fool can also mean that you are taking too many risks or acting recklessly, certainly true of the team considering that they purposefully put themselves in harms way to protect their fellow students, whilst also hiding their activities from Kyoko and Shuichi (to the best of their abilities). Choosing Hajime to be the protagonist was essentially a choice made by the Fool Arcana, I felt that he was the one in Danganronpa who best embodied the traits of the Fool thanks to his relative disconnect with the other characters because he is a member of the Reserve Course. 

Magician: Without question, at a first glance, Hiyoko does not fit with any of the other Magician’s since P3, hell she’s also the first girl to have the Arcana going by those standards. In addition to that, Hiyoko doesn’t seem to resemble Kenji, Junpei, Yosuke, or Morgana all that much either- at first glance anyway. Truth be told, Hiyoko almost exclusively embodies the reverse of the Magician: she’s manipulative, greedy, and selfish- she acts almost entirely for self gain. So while that would probably be enough to at least somewhat justify her as the Magician, there is another, less extreme, aspect of the reversed Magician that I think fits Hiyoko perfectly, that being the idea that you understand what you want, but don’t know what to do to get it. Unfortunately, because of the absolute disaster that was Danganronpa 2’s third chapter, this isn’t something from Hiyoko we get to see much of in earnest, and we sort of have to make our own guesses and interpretations on Hiyoko’s tragically under-utilised character. The way I see her, Hiyoko emulates the sort of behaviour that she experienced growing up, hence the bullying of the DR2 cast and her antagonistic attitude. Through parts of her FTE’s and especially her development after Chapter 2 though, it seems to be that she isn’t entirely happy with the old version of herself, she’d like to get along with people and have normal relationships, but she doesn’t know how to do it. That’s quite a basic analysis of her character, but I think it serves as enough to justify my admittedly more personal reason for choosing Hiyoko to represent Magician.

Priestess: Part of Chiaki being our Priestess comes from the fact that she is the party navigator. The Priestess Arcana can be representative of a guide, which, to me, makes them a perfect fit for navigation roles (even if Fuuka has been the only Priestess navigator so far). But from a personality point of view, the Priestess evokes, generally, the desire to be compassionate and kind, as well as creative and trusting. At the end of the day, Chiaki is a very simple character when you boil her down, and her compassion for everyone in her life is far and away her most defining trait- I'd argue more so than any other character in the DR franchise. Trust too is heavily linked to Chiaki as a character. Throughout DR2, both her and Hajime have numerous scenes during trials where they declare just how much they want to trust their friends and classmates, and how they'd rather find the truth through belief rather than doubt. Chiaki takes this a step even further in Chapter 5, where the entire premise of convicting her of Nagito's murder sees her pushing the others to not only trust in Nagito, that he would set up his own death in the way he did, but to also trust in Hajime, and his conclusion that she had to be the killer, as well as the traitor. One final, notable aspect of the Priestess that links to Chiaki is the idea of secrets and hidden information. This, of course, ties into the secret of Chiaki's identity, as both the traitor and an AI in DR2.

Empress: To put it very simply, the Empress Arcana is all about femininity, or at least traditionally feminine traits. And for the sake of the two characters I chose to represent the Empress, both Mahiru and Chisa fulfil essentially that same role- a maternal role. And funnily enough, they act as that maternal role for the same group, just under different circumstances, that group of course being class 77. Similarly to the Moon, the Empress is a very simple Arcana, and in the grand scheme of tarot, is pretty basic. Outside of that primary link to femininity... there’s really nothing else to this Arcana, aside from a minor connection to nature. In the upright position at least. Looking at the Reversed Empress is what pushed Mahiru to the forefront of this Arcana over Chisa. Part of the Reversed Empress is the idea of a creative block, or the fear that you’re work does not appeal to anyone. In Mahiru’s Shot-Through-The-Heart event in DR2’s Island Mode, she expresses the belief that no one should really care about her photography, both in comparison to her mother’s work, and the fact that he doesn’t think other students are interested in things like photography anyway. This, of course, is all in her own head- it’s made pretty clear whenever her photos are mentioned that others adore her work, but this grants her a strong connection to another theme of the Reversed Empress- the idea that you are your own biggest critic. This can also apply to body image, but at no point does Mahiru (or Chisa) think negatively of their body image. At most, Mahiru exists in a game where almost all the girls have abnormally large bust sizes and she is one of three (two, considering what Hiyoko really looks like) to have what would be considered average, but Ibuki is really the only character to comment on that in any way. Although, there is arguably one hint in Mahiru’s gift preferences that may suggest a degree of self consciousness- she is the only character who loves the Compact Costume, which specifically notes that it’s useful for girls who don’t stand out, so take that for what you will. Curiously however, both Mahiru and Chisa, whilst acting as maternal figures, aren’t particularly traditionally feminine in many other ways- yes Chisa is a housekeeper, but she’s fairly headstrong and abrasive at times, and is certainly not very reserved. Mahiru too is quite tomboyish, in appearance mainly, from the overall-like dress she wears in DR2, to her very short her and freckles. She’s also very confrontational and headstrong, like Chisa, which, as aforementioned, doesn’t really align with the traditional femininity of the Empress. Maybe it's not important, but it is something that I found quite interesting, since it would be very easy to simply have the maternal characters in a series simply be very feminine.

Emperor: Yes, I am fully aware that making the Student Council the Emperor SL is not the most original idea I've ever had. Regardless, in terms of appearance in story, this is the final duo-SL, and is easily the one that warrants it the most. Taka and Mondo are often considered a package deal anyway, and it certainly helps that they both fit so perfectly into the Emperor Arcana. While the Emperor does have some connections to being father figures, that isn't especially something I'd attribute to Taka or Mondo, unlike with my Empress picks. Instead, these two find their links to the Emperor through leadership roles, and a sense of power/authority. Taka and Mondo have very obvious connections with leaders/leadership- Mondo is, of course, the leader of the Crazy Diamond biker gang, and as such reflects the authority inherent to the Emperor. Taka too shares a similar element of leadership in his ambitions, in his dream to one day become Prime Minister- a very self explanatory position of power and authority. However, that is only the Upright Emperor, in Reverse the two possess one trait that is a little more tenuous, but one that I think fits, that being an issue with father figures. Now, neither actually has any stated issue with their fathers, at least as far as I'm aware, but there are certainly male figures in each of their lives that heavily influenced them negatively- Mondo's brother and Taka's grandfather. Obviously, neither one of these men sought to harm either Taka or Mondo, but the effect both had on their juniors lives is undeniable. Mondo's feelings of responsibility for his brothers death have very clear consequences for his ego and self esteem, to the extent that they are what drive him to murder. Taka, on the other hand, wishes to become Prime Minister because of the direct failings of his grandfather, a man who rose to power despite having little skill in politics, and led the Ishimaru family to ruin after being involved in numerous political scandals. There is one final link to the Emperor Arcana that I'd like to make, specifically to Taka, though. In DR1, Taka notably tries to take a leadership role within the group, up until the start of Chapter 3, and in that leadership role... he is neither very effective, nor liked or respected- he backs down at every challenge to him, and is rather frequently disobeyed, even Makoto gives him a little sass every now and then, and considering that this is Makoto we're talking about, it sort of speak for itself. In the Reversed Emperor Arcana, there are allusions to failing to rise to an appropriate level of authority, and I think that truly reflects Taka's character rather well, as a man who tries his best, but is surrounded by people who don't want anything to do with him and his authority- though considering the number of lone wolves and free spirits in the Danganronpa casts, it's hardly surprising that someone as soft and kind as Taka fails to lead with the authority of, say, the Ultimate Imposter in Chapter 1 of DR2.

Hierophant: With this Arcana’s link to spirituality and religion, Angie was an obvious choice for the Hierophant. Of course, whether or not Angie actually believes in Atua, or if she just uses Him as a way to make others listen to what she has to say is up for debate, but she achieves the same ends regardless of whether or not she herself believes- and that is the fact that she acts as a teacher for others. As much as the Hierophant is about developing and following your own doctrine, this Arcana also embodies the idea of teaching others those beliefs, something Angie most certainly tries to do, with varying degrees of success. Quite interestingly, Angie’s success with her teaching of Atua’s word meets different levels of success based on the scenario- as in, her influence spreads wide during the killing game, but in the Talent Development Plan mode, no one seems to really be on board completely with the idea of Atua, Himiko being the figure of particular note. Success is not counted towards the Hierophant though, so Angie certainly embodies this Arcana. 

Lovers: Despite it’s name, the Lovers Arcana does not always have anything to do with sexual love, or even love at all. For me, Komaru and the Lovers Arcana are one of the most perfect character-Arcana matches that I could have made. On the relationships side of the Arcana, Komaru has two very important relationships in Danganronpa, with Makoto and Toko, her friendship with Toko arguably being the central focus of UDG. However, another key aspect of the Lovers Arcana is choice. That choice is often linked to one’s values, and who they want to be, and that certainly aligned with Komaru’s personal journey through UDG. There is of course also the infamous segment (or, one of many infamous segments of UDG...) in the finale where Komaru has to make the choice as to whether or not she should break the controller, a moment which, until Monaca breaks her, reflects the resolve Komaru built throughout the game as she continuously decides to not break the controller. And this is just scratching the surface of just that one scene and how deeply it relates to the Lovers Arcana. If you’re interested, I’d recommend looking up everything about the Lovers Arcana yourself, and comparing just how well Komaru matches it. Originally though, Komaru was not going to be the representative of the Lovers Arcana, and instead it was going to be Kaede. Kaede fits the mould of this Arcana too, just to a less extreme degree. She too is faced with a moral dilemma, one which results in her decision to kill. Her relationship with Shuichi is also undeniably important, and serves as one of the cruxes to his motivation throughout V3.

Chariot: The Chariot Arcana, as the card after The Lovers, has an intrinsic connection to strength of heart and willpower. Tenko and Sakura aren’t really that similar in many ways, but the traits that they do share align perfectly, in my mind, with the Chariot Arcana. There is an important distinction to make here though; yes, both of these girls could vie for the Strength Arcana as well, but I feel as if, to both Tenko and Sakura, their emotions are much more important to their characters than their physical strength. Tenko probably doesn’t need explaining, most of her character in V3 revolves around her emotions, be it her love or her hate. Sakura, on the other hand, doesn’t really have a strong tie in the main story to emotions until Chapter 4, where her love for her friends hardens her resolve and she chooses to end her own life for their sakes. Sakura’s free time events also highlight her emotions, specifically her relationship with Kenshiro. Another important aspect of the Chariot is the call to be assertive and courageous. Sakura’s resolve to commit suicide in Chapter 4, and her decision to defy Monokuma and Junko, was certainly brave and a display of her power in a more subtle way. For Tenko, it is Korekiyo, of all characters, who summarises Tenko’s bravery best, how she, in the name of her love for a best friend who doesn’t care much in return, is the only character in V3 to take any sort of stand against the student council (even if it’s only for Himiko’s sake). Having a party member be one of the characters who had a shared Link might seem a bit off, and I absolutely agree- you may or may not have taken notice of the character who is getting the most focus in terms of challenges and character development so far...

Temperance: As a character from the DR3 anime, Kizakura has considerably less to work with than most other characters in the series. I have no doubt that there are some characters just as, if not more, fitting for the Temperance Arcana, but he is the one I chose. Temperance is about remaining calm and level headed, traits that Kizakura certainly demonstrates in his limited time in the DR3 killing game. He calmly watches on as Seiko attacks Ruraka; just as calmly accusing Ruraka of killing her boyfriend, and activating one of his traps in order to pin Juzo to the wall. Even in death, Kizakura finds peace, though the circumstances of his death are certainly the reason for that. This composure in stressful situations is the true mark of someone belonging to the Temperance Arcana. And even if his composure can be attributed to his frequent drinking of alcohol, that too plays a part in him being cast as the Temperance. The reversed meaning of Temperance can be loosely applied to Kizakura as well, a lack of moderation (in his case, it’s his heavy drinking) is a trait of the reversed Temperance.

Devil: With it’s association with sexuality, the fact that Miu was my choice for the Devil Arcana should come as no surprise. However, there is a lot more to both Miu and the Devil Arcana than just sexuality. Addiction and unhealthy behaviours are key characteristics of the Devil Arcana, and Miu certainly embodies both traits. On a small scale, Miu certainly displays an affinity for drugs and sex in V3, though to say that she is addicted might be a tad much. As for unhealthy behaviours, well, she has those in spades. Be it her overwhelming egotism, her offensive language, or just her general mean-spiritedness, Miu is far from a likeable person (which, fun fact, if you didn’t know, Miu was written purposely to the most unlikable character possible). These unhealthy habits even spill over into her Love Hotel scene, of all things, where she tries to resolve her abandonment issues by forcing her partner (Shuichi, for the sake of the scene) to have children with her. It may come as no surprise that Miu is not the only character who fits with the Devil Arcana, and my original plan was to have Junko be the representative of the Devil (to say she exhibits unhealthy behaviours is so much of an understatement that it isn’t remotely funny), but, as with most characters who changed from the draft, I felt that Miu overall fit much better, on account of the fact that there is a bit more character to Miu than Junko, and thus more to explore. Another key aspect of the Devil is recognising and overcoming your unhealthy behaviours and desires, and Junko simply isn’t the type of character to suddenly not be into despair.

Star: So, the Star Arcana is representative of hope. Obviously Makoto had to be the one to take this Arcana. While there is some truth to that as my reason for choosing Makoto for the Star Arcana, much like the Arcana’s already assigned to other protagonists, the Star actually reflects quite a lot of Makoto’s personal journey and growth in the franchise. In particular, the Star Arcana can involve discovering yourself, and your true potential; this is ultimately what happens with Makoto, as he becomes the Ultimate Hope after defeating Junko for the first time, becoming a light for the Future Foundation, and later rekindling Hope’s Peak Academy himself. Furthermore, the Star Arcana represents a time after much turmoil, and to say that Makoto experiences a lot of that is probably too soft a description. For the Star, anything is possible, given the right attitude and approach, which certainly summarises Makoto’s attitude towards life and the games he finds himself a part of, as well as his philosophy behind trying to rehabilitate the Remnants.

Moon: Chihiro is uncannily perfect for the Moon Arcana. The Moon in the Upright position represents fear and illusion based on past experiences. Obviously, Chihiro dresses as a girl based on his fears and past experiences, wishing to hide his masculinity because he believes that he lacks any. As well as this, his disguise as a girl is effectively an illusion, created to protect himself from his fears, which is very reminiscent of the Reversed Moon, since this card can mean that you are burying your emotions deep within yourself because you are not ready to face them. The Moon is overall a very simple card, and yet Chihiro perfectly fits the mould for it.

Aeon and Jester: I assume this won’t come as a surprise, but Aeon and Jester are not real Tarot Cards. They were made for the Persona series, and is the only place, as far as I am aware, that they appear. Aeon has only appeared twice, but both Aigis and Marie do certainly have some commonality- specifically the fact that they are both, in their own ways, otherworldly, or possess powers to the same effect. Sonia is much the same way in the story, as a Velvet Room attendant. In the actual franchise though... ehhhh... yeah, this was one of the ones that really work in the context of this story, rather than just on the source material, my pick for Tower is quite the same way. As for Jester, it has only appeared once, for Adachi. While Adachi was the Jester, he was really just that, a joke. Be it from playfully teasing Nanako, or hiding from some old lady who likes talking to him, Adachi was always treated as a joke character, up until the reveal that he his the guy who used the TV world to kill Yamano and Saki. Again, it’s a bit of a reach, but Gundham could be seen in a very similar way, up until he kills Nekomaru, he’s really just a joke character that takes himself seriously (though to be fair, like 3/4 of the DR2 cast are just comic relief outside of their FTE’s), but he’s taken much more seriously in the after-trial part of Chapter 4 when he explains his life philosophy, and Hajime and Chiaki realise that he and Nekomaru probably agreed that they both would die so that everyone else could live. I probably didn’t have to justify my choices for two Arcana that aren’t real, but I did, so... yeah.

A little bit about the Persona’s:

Hajime and Herakles: Certainly the most influential aspect towards Hajime’s Persona being Herakles is Izuru. Hajime’s journey in Danganronpa contains some parallels to tales of Herakles. Both choose a glorious life over a normal one, and cause immense suffering because of it, for Izuru that would be his involvement in the Tragedy, and for Herakles it was murdering his wife and children- though neither were themselves at the time, Hajime of course being Izuru, and Herakles forced to madness by the goddess Hera. This is also followed by stories of repentance from both figures, Izuru rebelling against Junko and kind of working with Makoto to help the Remnants; Herakles of course undergoes his Twelve Labours as repentance.

Makoto and Pandora: So, not all of these are going to be super complicated or anything, and Makoto is prime example of that. There’s very obviously the connection between Makoto and Pandora in the sense that the only thing left in Pandora’s Box after it was opened was hope. That’s really where the idea for this one stemmed from, as in, I just thought it might be cool. But what made me decide to actually go with Pandora over the actual manifestation of hope (Elpis, in Greek mythology, Spes in Roman) was that the story of Pandora also serves as something of an origin story for, to put it simply, despair. Be that in the form of death, or anything else- think of it as an older version of the Christian Garden of Eden story, where humans are kicked out of paradise because Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit. Makoto obviously isn’t the root cause of despair in Danganronpa, that dubious honour goes to Junko, but he does serve as the origin for the franchise, in a way, being the protagonist of the first game, and he does pave the way for most of the future tragedies- he is the one who brings the Remnants together (though not with the intent to start a killing game), and his trial for betraying the Future Foundation is what sets up the perfect scenario for the killing game in DR3. 

Tenko and Eros: Tenko’s Persona was chosen for an even more pathetic and petty reason than Makoto’s- love is one of the most important parts of her character. Yes, it really is that simple. At least, as it currently stands. There is one other reason that Eros was chosen for Tenko; no other could really fill that roll, but the answer to that is a spoiler for later on in the story than I have currently posted. Though if you are familiar with myths involving Eros, you may be able to guess why. 

Hiyoko and Ame-no-Uzume: First and foremost, I wanted Hiyoko's Persona to come from Japanese mythology/legend. Ame-no-Uzume made for the obvious choice for me, but there was the slight problem of that she is already a Persona in the franchise. However, redesigning her was the easiest part of pretty much the whole Persona choosing process across the board. The story I took complete inspiration from was Uzume’s roll in coaxing Amaterasu out of hiding. Of course, this plays a part in the story of the fic, with Hiyoko as Uzume and Mahiru as Amaterasu, although the method that Uzume used was supposed to be comical, rather than the more tragic means by which Hiyoko indirectly lured Mahiru out of hiding. As such, I wanted to make Uzume’s design comical, to reflect that. I took heavy inspiration here from Sheba, from Xenoblade Chronicles 2, what with the floating bath tub. In the story, Uzume danced atop a tub nude, which caused the other deities to burst into hysterical laughter (hence the comedic aspect of the story). Finally, Uzume’s story also involved using a polished jade to help lure out Amaterasu, which is very simply why Hiyoko’s Persona is coloured the way it is. This story also inspired a Japanese ceremonial dance, Kagura, which is also a nice bonus connection to Hiyoko. Not relating to the story though, Uzume has fans in this design as a nod to her actual design in the Persona franchise.

Chiaki and Narada: So I've mentioned in my notes that Chiaki was the hardest character to find a Persona for. Turns out sleepy gamer girls and nice traitors can't really be found that often in mythology and folklore- who would've guessed? But, I obviously settled on Narada, a figure that, especially compared to every other Persona, you may be unfamiliar with. Narada is a figure from Hinduism, a human with the knowledge of a god. He can see that past, present, and the future, all while possess near omniscience on a range of other subjects. Obviously, this makes Narada a really good Persona for a navigator. But why Chiaki specifically? Honestly, I had a hard time deciding if I could justify it. The first connection I could draw was that Narada is considered to be quite the mischief maker- which in the language of ancient religion and folklore usually means they play tricks, or games, on or with people. A tenuous connection with our Ultimate Gamer, but one that does sort of exist. A much better connection for me was Narada's skill with morality and logic. Chiaki, serving as what is basically the Kyoko of DR2, clearly demonstrates her powers of logic in every class trial, and it almost seems stupid to take note of the fact that Chiaki is very obviously a morally good character. She's arguably the greatest advocate in DR2 against killing- another neat little connection I made between these two was that Narada was given the power of prophecy, but no one would believe his prophecies, almost like how no one seems to listen to Chiaki's pleas to stop killing each other. The last big link I could make here circles back to Narada's main 'gimmick', the fact that he has knowledge of the past, present, and future. The initial point of Chiaki in DR2 is to effectively monitor everyone else. Through herself and Usami, she should've had pretty much total control over Jabberwock Island, she should've known every little detail, and everything that happened. That covers the present, but what about the past and future? Well, Chiaki is the only member of the cast (aside from post-despair disease Mikan) who knows what everyone is doing there, and what should happen after they are done on the island, which I think suitably covers the past and the future, at least for the AI Chiaki created for that specific purpose. So... hopefully that can somewhat convince you that this makes sense, and maybe you even learned a little about something you didn't know before to boot.

Hmm? What's this? If you are seeing this, then you've caught me a little unprepared! In the near future, those character sheets I promised a while ago will be slotting themselves in right here, so I hope you are looking forward to that. And yes, if you were wondering, which I'm sure you were, they are the ones Chiaki created in universe, so here and there there will be a few added touches for flavour (but sadly not the awful drawings).

For now, that is all. I will return to edit this page with more stuff as the story progresses. So finally, I don’t own any of the characters or properties used or referenced in this fan fiction, and all of them are the properties of their respective owners.


	2. Prologue

Anxiety and fear flooded the desolate halls of Hope’s Peak Academy. Any other night within the academy’s halls would’ve been idyllic, moon beams dancing through windows, casting gentle shadows of empty chairs and desks against classroom walls, dust particles only noticeable in shafts of light, buzzing about in the rooms housing the tools shared amongst the many Ultimate students. But tonight...

The desperate slap of plastic soles against the solid floors cut through the silence occupying the halls. Heavy, gasping breaths disturbed the tranquil silence of the night. Small droplets of blood tainting the polished floors. 

“P-please...! Leave... leave me alone!” A laboured cry directed at naught but thin air. The owner of the cry sprinted with all the strength she could muster through the halls of the academy, rounding what must’ve been her fourth or fifth corner, fuck if she was counting something that dumb at a time like this.

“... You’re a real dumbass for coming here. And even dumber for trying to run from me in halls I’ve been stalking for three years already.” Spat with venom and bile, words that near paralysed the fleeing girl cascaded upon her. Most terrifyingly for her, they had come from somewhere ahead of her.

She had no choice, there was nowhere to run, was there? She darted into a classroom, the only one she was familiar with, Class 77’s homeroom, 3-B, the only homeroom class on the third floor. The school year had just started, yet she feared it might soon come to its worst possible end. What could she even do now? She was cornered... unless she fought back. If only she’d found the stairs, she wouldn’t have to dare try this. She could just flee, go home, report the freak chasing her to the police... or maybe it would have been safer to forget this ever happened. Despite not being in the class, she knew the students who were, mostly on a talent basis, there should be some kind of weaponry stored here, a bamboo sword at the very least...

“Sorry... I made sure that there would be nothin’ in here tonight.” That poisonous voice seeped through the thin door, before it slammed open, a short figure stepping into the classroom, a metal bat coated in tiny specs of blood gripped tightly in their hands. 

“I-I’m telling you, I didn’t have anything to do with it! I hated her guts, I won’t deny that, but I didn’t murder your sister!” Her back was against one of windows now. She’d never felt so much fear in her life. Her hands pressed against the window, blood plastering hair to her forehead. This was it. Nowhere to run. And she would not survive a fall from the third floor, so the window was not an option. This was how her life was going to end, clubbed to death by an angry blonde midget. Fuck, she’d wished death upon many people in her life, but to actually face it... It was horrifying. 

“Hey! Hey, are you even listening to me?! Fuckin’ bitch... I know you killed my little sister, Sato! And I know that group of bastards you call friends were in on it too! They’re lucky they aren’t about to have their fuckin’ skulls bashed in...”

“I told you b-before... I had nothing to do with it... and neither did my friends...” Sato was still losing blood from her head wound. She could feel that she was gradually losing consciousness. Deep down, she prayed that she’d pass out before Fuyuhiko got to her. At least she wouldn’t feel any pain from the death blow.

“Sh-shut up! I know you did it! You had all the motive to, a-and I overheard that conversation you had with Mahiru the day after Natsumi’s body was found. I know it was you! The red-head is too much of a pussy to even try it! I know it was you! AND I’LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU SHIT HEADS FOR IT!”

Letting out a shallow, defeated sigh, Sato slumped to the floor, all the strength had left her body. Fuyuhiko’s knuckles were burning a ghostly white as his grip on the bat tightened, and the last thing she saw before her vision abruptly ended was the hot tears streaming down Fuyuhiko’s cheeks...

Fuyuhiko was pulled out of his furious trance by the clang of metal against the floor of the classroom. His classroom. Slumped before him was the corpse of some chick he barely even recognised. It didn’t matter that he didn’t know her. This was revenge, and it was damn well justified. That’s what he kept telling himself at least. 

“Shit... I’m such a fuckin’ pussy. But she got what she deserved. I can’t feel bad. This is what I wanted. This is what I wanted...” A shaking hand rubbed the cold sweat from the back of his neck. He’d done it. He’d got his revenge. And he hadn’t needed the Kuzuryu clan to do it. 

Clutching at his chest, he could feel the pounding of his heart. He’d seen death all throughout his childhood, but this was the first time he’d done any killing himself. “Get used to it Fuyuhiko... without Natsumi, you’ll need to deal with it as leader of the clan...” With that resolve, he tried to harden his heart, steady its pulsing. Taking one last glance at the sack of flesh by the window, he let out a dismissive scoff. 

It wouldn’t matter what the consequences would be, he was ready to face them, just as he was ready to hear the horrified screams blasting from within 3-B the next morning...


	3. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, and welcome to what can only be described as an overly ambitious first project. I’ve never written a fan fic before, and this one is way too long to be a first, but so it is anyway. Because of that, more than ever, I’m happy to receive all kinds of constructive criticism, or just some regular criticism, as long as it’s not just slander for the sake of slander. 
> 
> I’m not convinced anyone will care, but I actually wrote the first third of this story about a year ago, and at that point I hadn’t played Persona 5, so I didn’t incorporate any of the new mechanics into the story at all, like I did with some others from P4 and 3. This also goes for Persona awakenings, which fall a lot more in line with those from 4 than any other Persona game. Of course, I’m editing some bits as I post this, but you can’t alter entire story beats, and a lot of things hinge around my own version of Persona’s world. Anyway, on with the story!

Saturday, April 13th. The day another body was discovered within the walls of Hope’s Peak Academy. Not even a full week had passed of his third year and it was already shaping up to be one hell of a traumatic experience.

Hajime’s fingers slowly drummed against the desk he was sat at. Lunch period was hardly ever eventful for him. Despite having attended Hope’s Peak since the first year, he had never tried making friends in the Reserve Course. Not to say that that was any different for others on the course, a general air of resentment run rampant through the entire Reserve block. Students hated being there, never considered to even be worth the air they breathe compared to the Ultimate students; the teachers didn’t want to be there, they signed up to teach a new generation of Ultimates, not scum of the earth who tried to pay their ways success. And despite everything, Hajime, too, was one of them. 

Never had Hajime wanted anything more than to stand with the Ultimate students of Hope’s Peak. But here he was, having his parents pay frankly obscene amounts of money just for him to do what? Go to a school where he’s treated like dirt? Where he can barely interact with his entire reason for wanting to attend the academy? 

That was certainly one thing that stung him in particular about the deaths of his classmates, Natsumi and Sato. Natsumi was a braggart, and a self-entitled bitch by pretty much all means, she was always loud, always making a scene, but at least it brought some energy into the building. She’d call herself the Ultimate Little Sister, which, sure, to Hajime and every other student, sounded like the dumbest and least useful talent anyone could possibly have, but her self assigned title gave her a bravado that was unmatched by anyone else in the Reserve Course. Losing her in March, just before their second year had ended, somehow felt like a personal blow to Hajime. Odd to say that he missed some yakuza daughter, but he did. Certainly helped that she was one of the only people he’d ever tried to talk to during the past two years, even if his motivation for doing so was entirely out of a selfish desire to rub elbows with an ‘Ultimate’.

Sato brought something of her own to the Reserve Course. That being actual Ultimates. Usually just a red haired girl who seemed to always carry a camera, but sometimes a tiny girl in a kimono would be at the other Ultimate’s side. It was rare that Ultimates would ever casually come over to the Reserve building, resentment ran too high for most to want to bother, so seeing those two occasionally come in and just have lunch in his classroom was refreshing. A change of pace. But it must’ve been awfully difficult, especially for the photographer. Along with the general attitude from most of the Reserve students, it was plain as day that Natsumi despised the girl. Hajime didn’t know all of the details, but, considering the blondes yakuza background, he was pretty sure it wasn’t, well... pretty. 

But Natsumi and Sato couldn’t bring any remote joy to him anymore. They were dead. 

Ever since Natsumi’s death, he’d realised that the photographer was coming by less frequently, and hadn’t at all for the first week back. A part of him wondered if she’d been killed. But another part of him hoped. Hoped that she’d just wander in and sit at Sato’s desk, and eat her lunch like she used to. 

There was a twisting in Hajime’s chest. He knew why. It was because he knew he didn’t really mean it like that. He was selfish, he didn’t really care about her specifically. He just wanted that glimpse at an Ultimate, however insignificant it might’ve been. 

He was a total asshole. At least, he felt like one. 

Somehow, he had managed to make himself so uncomfortable with his own train of thought that he just couldn’t eat anything. Instead, he settled for staring out of one of the great glass windows that overlooked the Main Course. Whoever designed the Reserve building was a dick, forcing students like him to have to look down over Ultimates through his glass prison. The Ultimates and their individuality, compared to him and his prison garb. He was stuck wearing a black suit like all the other no-name guys in the Reserve Course, while those Ultimates could seemingly get away with anything, so long as it held some link to their talent. Not counting the kimono girl, he’d seen various tracksuits and jumpsuits, hoodies, a kid with a trench coat, even what looked like a gothic lolita. Just another way to distinguish between the ‘us’ and ‘them’ at Hope’s Peak, he had to surmise.

But it’s not like he hated Ultimates, no, far from it. Hajime still admired them more than anyone else. And the rumours that flew around the Reserve Course usually only heightened the intrigue and fascination he held for them. But recently...

“...there’s no way it wasn’t an Ultimate that killed those two girls...”

“...I bet none of them will even get punished, but we’ll receive an hour long lecture about not bothering the Ultimates...”

“Dude, I heard that Sato broke into school last night. So, what do you think got to her?”

“You kiddin’? She had her head busted in by a baseball bat, right? Obviously, that Leon guy did it!” 

“Damn dude, fuck those other ones, you should be an Ultimate Detective. They’ve already got two, they can make room for more, right?”

They didn’t care. They didn’t give two shits about their classmates who had been killed. They just wanted an excuse to criticise people they didn’t even know. 

Hajime wasn’t aware how much it bothered him though until his palms became unbearably sore, a tiny spec of blood coating one of his finger nails. He’d been clenching his fists. And his jaw. His blood was boiling. He knew he had no right to be mad, he was just as selfish as them, but still... 

Standing up, Hajime knew he had to say something, anything, just something to shut those idiots up-

“Sup’ ya fuckin’ cum stains?! Stare in awe of the hottest fuckin’ bombshell you’ll ever lay your sad virgin eyes on!”

Well that was... bombastic. Bursting through the door to his class came, a tall, blonde girl dressed in little else but a white button up, brown mini skirt, and a giant orange ribbon around her neck. Not a black uniform. So she was an Ultimate. And not quite like what Hajime had expected one to sound like. Although, what caught Hajime’s attention the most were her rolled up sleeves that led to clearly oil stained hands, the left of which was clutching a piece of paper, which, too, was soaking up oil, sagging and crumpling in on itself. 

No one had a response to the outrageous entrance of the foul mouthed girl, and the silence seemed to be taken as an invitation for her to continue talking. “I put up these goddamn flyers literal fuckin’ months ago, and not’a single one’a you slugs have come crawlin’ down to the tech department. I put my blood, sweat, cum, and tears into making these things funky enough for you losers, and still nothing! Fucks wrong with y’all?!”

Flyers? Hang on, Hajime vaguely recalled seeing a few posters strung up on some classroom doors, and a couple of bulletin boards a while ago, but most of them were taken down. Some ‘genius’ had decided to put hot pink text on a hot pink background. Apparently that ‘genius’ was this girl. 

“U-uhhhh... s-so...? Are you serious...? Nothing?” In the short time after her last outburst, the sheer lack of reaction had destroyed all of that bravado from before. 

This self proclaimed genius crumbled under silence... what an embarrassment. “H-hey, I see one of you ‘roaches is eager... Hey, limp dick, get over here!”

This girl never stopped talking did she? So much for wanting more Ultimates around here. He really needed to be more specific with his wishes from now on...

It took a moment for him to realise that all the eyes in the room were on him. 

“Huh?” Shit, he hadn’t sat down after he was getting himself ready to reprimand his classmates. And now this girl thought he wanted to volunteer for... whatever she was going on about. 

She wasn’t waiting around for Hajime to say no either, before he could object, she had shoved her way through the classroom and had grabbed him by the wrist. The oil from her hands already began to seep into his skin, and stain the cuff of his shirt, a shiver running down his spin from the oddly cold liquid suddenly making contact with his body. Or maybe it was actually a warning from his body about the danger of this girl even touching him.

“Ooo, a shiver already, huh? Guess when you’ve got tits like mine, I can just get close and you virgins soil yourselves!” Her vulgar statement was punctuated by an equally vulgar snort-laugh, spit spraying from her mouth. Gross. 

“Look, sorry, I don’t...”

“Shut it, mutt! You’re comin’ with me, and I don’t wanna hear your bitchin’!” Despite her looks, and the oil lubing her hands, her grip was egregiously firm, and it took very little effort to drag Hajime out of his classroom and through the halls of the Reserve Course.

As she was dragging him though, Hajime caught something that he figured the blonde didn’t want him to, considering her established tone. “...can’t go back without at least one... I’d be a laughing stock after what I said...”

Figuring that he had no way out of this, Hajime mustered up the courage to ask two simple questions he really needed answers to... and he hoped wouldn’t make him want to run as fast as could back into his classroom... Wait, what if this was connected to what ended up killing Sato and Natsumi? Suddenly feeling a cold sweat trickle down his neck, and with a very dry mouth, Hajime dared to ask the questions he feared would change his life. “Hey... who are you? And what exactly am I being dragged around for?”

“You’re kiddin’, right? I’m, like, the most famous person on the planet right now! My name’s Miu motherfuckin’ Iruma, and I bet you’ll never forget it! As for what you’re gunna do? Lucky ol’ plain you is going to be the first test subject for my latest genius creation, the Neo World Programme!”


	4. Chapter 2

There was a tiny, secluded hideaway within the grounds of Hope’s Peak that was bathed in silence. An unbearably loud silence that no one could possibly hope to fill. 

It was the most deafening sound either of the girls present had ever heard. 

That small grotto was, if anything, a private safe haven for a small group of friends. Overgrown with plants no one cared for but them, half shaded, half in the sun, two benches they could all sit on to eat lunch together, or chatter amongst themselves after school... Today there were just two of them. 

“... Hey Ibuki? Is Mahiru going to be okay?” 

Ibuki had been spending the majority of her lunch break pretending to tune one of her many guitars. It gave her something to do, and distracted her from the potential uncomfortable atmosphere that had sprung up after what had been found this morning in their homeroom class. Briefly looking over to the small blonde dancer who’d addressed her, Ibuki opened her mouth, only to close it immediately afterwards, her mind suddenly finding the secrets of the universe within pebbles around her feet. 

Hiyoko had taken to tugging on her giant blonde ponytail. “You’ve been thinking about that too, right? I’ve never seen her so miserable... I’ve never seen anyone so miserable... And I don’t know what to do Ibuki...”

Somehow, the two girls had ended up on complete opposite sides of the bench they were sat on, pushed apart by a force they were unwilling to acknowledge the existence of. But in that moment, Ibuki felt that it fell on her to try and seal that gap. Gradually scooting down the bench, Ibuki was soon at Hiyoko’s side, an uncharacteristically gentle hand placed on the small girls back, giving her all the attention she’d been giving to her guitar.

“Sorry Hiyoko... Ibuki doesn’t really know how these things go. Ibuki’s a musician, not a psycho-ologist.” It wasn’t hard for Ibuki to force a grin, it was something she did all too often, and she hoped that her deliberate mispronunciation would spark something in Hiyoko to at least lighten her mood a touch. It didn’t. “Uhhh... hey, Hiyoko, want me to go find Mikan? Nothing like venting your anger on a poor defenceless maiden like Mikan...!”

“I’m not in the mood to pick on Mikan...” Her hands now cupping her chin, the grim expression on Hiyoko’s face was unlike anything Ibuki had seen from her in the two years of their friendship. 

“Oh, okay, th-this is really really super mega bad! Not only have you not been mean to me all day, you don’t want to pick on Mikan?” Ibuki’s hand began to rub comforting circles into Hiyoko’s back, if she couldn’t make Hiyoko crack a smile, the next best thing was to comfort her, right? “You’re really worried about Mahiru, aren’t ‘cha?” 

Hiyoko silently nodded. Trying out a sympathetic smile, Ibuki leaned forward to try and get into Hiyoko’s field of vision. “Ya know, I’ve never seen you like this Hiyoko, I always kinda thought all you had was a block of stone where your should-be adorable high school heart would be, but you’re a super sensitive softie really, aren’t you?” She paused when even that didn’t get a reaction. “Wanna go see Mahiru after school? She was sent back to the dorms pretty much first thing, and I think we both know she isn’t going to have done anything but gone home and cried into a pillow. Oh, oh, think she comfort eats? Maybe we could buy her somethin’! Think she’d want an ice cream tub? Or maybe we could cheer her up with something more... sticky sweet?” With a slight wiggle of her eye brows, Ibuki brought two fingers in a V-formation to her lips, but before she could stick out her tongue, Hiyoko lightly slapped her cheek, swiftly standing up. 

“Sh-shut up, dumbass... you’re such a nasty perv. I’ll bet you were just totally feeling about my back for a bra, weren’t you? You dirty pig!”

Ibuki stood too, a mortified look of mock-horror on her face, both hands neatly held against her cheeks.  
“Me? Do that? Ahhh, Hiyoko, you wound my purity as a girl lover! Ibuki would never do something so sneaky!” Slinging her guitar onto her back, she stepped closer to Hiyoko, leaning down to be on eye level with her. “Ibuki’s glad to see Hiyoko back to normal.”

A soft pink hue had began to grace Hiyoko’s cheeks, and she pouted ever so slightly before showing a small, brief, yet genuine smile. “Thanks for trying to cheer me up Ibuki... I guess you’re more than just a loud mouthed idiot sometimes...” Hiyoko seemed to be full of surprises for Ibuki this afternoon, as the small blonde wrapped Ibuki in a hug just as brief as her previous smile. “Alright, enough of that mushy crap... let’s go to the cafeteria, I wanna check if we can take some ice cream for Mahiru.” Hiyoko wasted no time in hurrying away, an effort Ibuki had no doubt was about being in order to hide that adorable pink glow her cheeks had taken on. 

“Hiyoko! Wait for Ibuki!”

“Whatever! Just walk faster! And what’s up with you continuously switching in and out of talking in third person?”

It looked innocuous enough. The door to the tech departments room was pretty standard, a double door with the little ‘TECH’ sign jutting out from the top of the door frame. But as soon as he took a look inside, the grand arm flourish Miu gave as she threw the doors open seemed warranted. 

The walls were lined with computer monitors, each screen turned on, with myriad written documents decorating each. Hajime would never be able to even begin to understand what was written on them though, the complicated schematics and diagrams looked like total jargon to him. Along with each different display set on each wall, every side of the room seemed to be designated to a different area of expertise. The back left corner had a giant operating table in it, surrounded by several dim pink lights, and the arms of machines Hajime was certain were only used as torture implements. The back right stretched its influence down the whole side of the room, diagrams of the brain being the only thing recognisable to Hajime. And finally, the left corner, the one closest to the entry door. All it looked like to him was small swivel chair surrounded by computer screens. It didn’t seem as if anyone was there right now though. 

Centre stage however, was a giant... cube. A giant metal cube. With an equally giant TV screen welded onto the front. And based on Miu’s giant grin, and the way she was eagerly nodding towards it, he could only imagine that this cobbled together heap of metal was the Neo World Programme. This thing was as much of a let down as the girl who dragged him here. 

“‘Aight fuck face, welcome to the tech department! Want the tour? ‘Course you do!” With another grand sweeping gesture, Miu continued, “Allllllll this shit?” Miu waved her hand across what Hajime was pretty sure was the entire room. “Doesn’t fuckin’ matter! Those two?” She pointed at two people Hajime had curiously missed when looking over the room. 

One was a small girl, wrapped in a red scarf, and sat in a giant... wheelchair? And the other was a man in a simple white button up with the same black trousers Hajime wore. The two things that stood out about him most though were the bright manga in his hands, and the fact that he looked a little too old to be a high school student. “They also don’t fuckin’ matter! But this baby...” Miu proceeded to extend a finger towards that giant metal box. “That’s what you need to care about.” The way Miu beamed with pride was almost endearing, in fact, it might’ve been the closest thing to good in Hajime’s entire first impression of her. 

“Welp, I’ve done my job, so get outta my face, dick biscuit. Go bother Yasuke if you want any deets on what you’ll actually be doing!” And with that simple exclamation, Miu bounded over to that back corner with the operating table. Figures, of course she’d be the owner of the freakiest part of the room.

Figuring that Yasuke must’ve been the older guy, Hajime, somewhat hesitantly made his way over to him. The man gave off an aura of isolation, his long messy black hair, paired with the dark circles under his eyes aiding in creating a standoffish air to him. “Hey... Uhh, are you Yasuke? I’m Hajime Hinata, your colleague, Miu, brought me here. Apparently I’m supposed to be testing her Neo World Programme...?” Hajime had put his best foot forward for taking the initiative here, but...

The man barely looked over the top of his manga. The Bomb Inside of Her huh? That certainly didn’t match his image, but maybe Hajime had been too hasty to judge him... “Yes, I’m Yasuke Matsuda, don’t care, and you aren’t testing anything. Fuck off kid.”

Okay, maybe he had come to the right conclusion. “What? Then why am I here? She told me I’d be the first to test her invention. She’s even put up flyers for it.” 

“Then you must be a fool. You got pulled along by the nose by that obnoxious first year.”

“Wait, Miu’s a first year?!” How is that possible? Beyond the contradiction of that thing about her flyers being posted so long ago, how would she have invented this giant thing in less than a week? And how can any fifteen year old look like her?!

“Yes, she is. Ultimate Inventor, part of class 79. Not that you’d know. You’re part of that Reserve Course, aren’t you?” Yasuke’s voice was deep and dismissive, which made it very difficult to tell if there was any malice in what he just said. All Hajime was sure of was that he wanted to stay on this guys good side, if he even had one. “I’m guessing by that reaction that you also didn’t know about the trial year all Ultimates have now. Apparently the school board of directors grew a few collective brain cells and decided to do an extensive screening of the students. Rightfully so too, the amount of crazies that slip through the cracks is annoying, but even now it’s not perfect. We still get ones like bitch tits back there...” Somehow, Yasuke’s scowl worsened. Hajime wasn’t sure why, but already knew he shouldn’t pry.

“Okay kid, you didn’t take the hint, so I guess I’ll give you the overview.” Slamming his manga shut, Yasuke seemed to have a sudden change in attitude. At the very least, he wasn’t determined to shrug Hajime off so quickly. Maybe he just wanted to speed things along? Or maybe he just wanted to drop the previous topic. Something he said seemed to have gotten to himself. 

“Miu- she’s the one who put all the research we’ve done into that machine over there.” Again, attention on that box. Seriously, it’s just a big metal box! “Talk to her at your own discretion, but she’s the only one of the team that you’ll reliably get a conversation out of. Scarf over behind me is Miaya Gekkogahara, ex-ultimate Therapist. If you can get anything out of her, I’ll consider you the messiah.”

“Sorry, you said ‘ex-ultimate’? What’s that mean?” Yasuke responded to the simple question with a glare, as if it should’ve been overtly obvious what exactly it meant. 

“She graduated last year. Obviously. You’re only an Ultimate student so long as you’re in high school, everyone knows that.” Hajime rubbed the back of his head. After having it spelt out to him, he felt a little foolish about not figuring that out himself. Of course he knew about what qualified as an Ultimate, but why should he know you became an ex-ultimate after graduation? “Anyway... I’m the ex-ultimate Neurologist, don’t talk to me unless it’s an emergency.” When he said that, it felt more like a threat than anything. Good god this guy was intimidating. “Finally, the one not here...” He nods towards the empty chair surrounded by computers. “Is Chihiro Fujisaki, she’s a second year, Ultimate Programmer. She’s the type that’ll shatter if you look at her too hard, but with a mug like yours, I’ll bet she’ll be jumping at the opportunity to talk to you.” A smug grin spread of Yasuke’s lips, a smile dripping with sarcasm, as were his words. 

Nevertheless, Hajime felt the need to ask.“So... why isn’t she here then?”

A familiar, vulgar voice permeated from the back of the room. “Prob’ly out getting double teamed by her two boy toys!” Once again, Miu’s words were followed by a laugh that sounded like a cat being strangled underwater. 

Yasuke rolled his eyes and cocked his head to the side. “She means Chihiro has a life outside of this room. A luxury she apparently doesn’t have.” Slumping back down into his chair, Yasuke turned back to his manga, flipping it open. “Miu lied, by the way. You aren’t going to be testing our project. You’re going to have to meet the headmaster to get any details on what you’re actually going to be doing. I refuse to get any shit from that bastard by telling you something he thinks I shouldn’t’ve.” He took a moments pause before looking up from his book. “Need help getting there, Reserve boy?” It was obviously a jab at Hajime, the cocked eyebrow and return of that poisonous smile tipped him off to that. But by this point, Hajime was glad to leave. While he’d tried staying silent, this guys attitude was really pissing him off. 

“No. I know where the office is. It’s on the fourth floor. I’ll be back later.” All Hajime heard as he stormed out was a grunt from Yasuke, but as soon as he crossed the boundaries of the doorway, back into the corridor, Hajime felt his gut fill with anxiety again. Why did this project need him to visit the headmaster? Maybe it was dangerous? He certainly wasn’t going to be just helping with some club activities, that was for sure. 

As Hajime was about to leave earshot of the tech room, he was caught slightly off guard by the last thing he heard from inside. 

“Fuck Yasuke! You are such a mouldy cunt sometimes! If that wimpy kid is gonna be staying, you better...” Hajime couldn’t catch the rest of it, his expedition to the headmasters office had already taken him too far. But he didn’t have to. The first smile that had graced his face in what seemed like months slowly crept across his lips. Miu Iruma... Loud, boisterous, self-assured... she was a lot like Natsumi, wasn’t she? In a weird way, Miu made him feel quite nostalgic. 

Having positive thoughts carry him to his destination was something Hajime had missed. Nostalgia was a funny thing, but deep in his heart, Hajime knew that the momentary joy he was getting was wrong. Again, selfish. Was he really going through with this on the pretence of replacing Natsumi? A girl he barely knew anything about? Then again, it wasn’t as if he had officially agreed to be a part of whatever was going on in the tech room to begin with. He had just let Miu string him along, and he just asked Yasuke all he did on instinct. Was he that desperate for companionship?

Ah, that was it. That was why it hurt him so much when Natsumi died, and why despite only just hearing of it, Sato’s death shook him too. They may not have directly been friends, but without them, and what they brought to his life... he was lonely. He had no one. Nothing. And this was a chance to find something new. Potentially make some actual friends. 

Hajime let out a long, sad sigh. So much for happy thoughts. 

Reaching the fourth floor of the Main Building, a few steps from the double doors leading to the headmasters office, the doors silently flew open, two students hurrying past him. One moved quickly, with purpose, with confident strides. He barely got a chance to look at the student, all he caught was that they were definitely female, and they had long, lavender hair. 

Stumbling behind the mysterious girl was effectively her antithesis. A boy dressed all in black fumbled his way out of the office just before the door slid closed, a few files stacked in his hands. 

“Ah... sorry...” His voice was meek, quiet, and he hurried to straiten himself up before he rushed past Hajime. Hajime couldn’t get a good look at the boys face, it was largely obscured by a hat the same colour as his suit, but what did catch his eye was a name on the top file the boy had been carrying. Kuzuryu.

Unfortunately, Hajime didn’t have time to think about those two though. He was at the headmasters office. Raising a hand to one of the well polished, oak doors, Hajime quickly realised his hand was shaking. But he had no time for anxiety right now. Pushing his momentary fears deep down, he lightly banged his knuckles against the wood. 

From the other side, a deep, yet welcoming voice echoed. “Please, come in.”


	5. Chapter 3

There was something of an informal atmosphere to the headmasters office. While yes, it housed a very pristine wooden desk for the headmaster, and various awards lined the walls and occupied cabinets, the two sofas surrounding a centre table with a decanter and two wine glasses placed on top gave the impression that the headmaster didn’t take his status as an authority figure entirely seriously. 

Only heightening this image was the fact that Hajime’s impromptu meeting with the headmaster was being attended by one other man, a man with a stubbly goatee and a white fedora, who was constantly taking sips of something from a canteen of his own. 

The headmaster himself, Jin Kirigiri, seemed slightly distraught from the moment Hajime had stepped into the room, quite contradictory to the calming voice that had invited him in, and the fact that the headmaster was endlessly shuffling all of the papers spread over his desk only managed to rekindle the anxiety he had felt outside. If the headmaster was this nervous, how the hell was he going to react to this new job he was to be assigned?

“So... you must be the Reserve Course student that the tech department promised to find. I was beginning to think they’d never find someone. It would have been a shame to shut them down after all the work they’ve put in already...” The dry laugh that followed the tapered off sentence hinted that there was some insincerity to the headmasters words just then. Which would mean, what, he wanted to shut down the project? Hajime was under the impression that the Neo World Programme was a pretty big deal, the tech room seemed like it was completely designed for those four students who were occupying it, so why would the headmaster of the school want to put a stop to their work? Perhaps Hajime was just reading too deeply into his words, he’d never spoken directly with the headmaster, so maybe he just spoke like this. “At any rate, what is you name?”

Bowing slightly, Hajime quickly responded, eager yet apprehensive to get into the details of why he was even here. “Ah, Hajime Hinata, Mr. Kirigiri. I’m sorry to have to come by unannounced, and yes, I was sent here by the tech department. Yasuke Matsuda, he was the one who told me to come. Though neither him, nor the girl who brought me down there actually gave me any information on what I’m needed for. Would you mind filling me in?”

Behind him, Hajime could hear the man in the fedora stifle a laugh. “Wow... never heard anyone act so desperately polite...” It seemed to be a running theme today for Hajime, whenever anyone said anything about him, to suddenly feel rather sheepish, like he shouldn’t have said anything at all. And this time, he couldn’t even be certain that the man was being rude or not. At least he could tell when Yasuke was being a dick. 

Jin responded with a slight chuckle of his own, a small smile appearing on his face. “I see, left it all to me, did they? Yasuke never was the type to involve himself with others when he didn’t have to...” Briefly reaching under his desk, presumably into a draw, Jin placed a sheet of paper on his desk, though why that sheet hadn’t been mixed in with the rest already over the desk was something that only further ensured to Hajime that the headmaster was not so well put together. As he hadn’t turned the page around though, Hajime couldn’t yet read what it said, but the dotted line at the bottom was a clear indication of a signature. So he was supposed to sign something? Really, what the hell was he about to get himself into that would require him to sign something that had to come directly from the headmaster?

“You may or may not be aware of the fact that the Neo World Programme is quite... a big deal, shall we say. It’s a project a number of students have contributed to over the past four years, and a lot of money has been put into it too, including some investments from big name companies. You are, however, likely to be aware of the... bodies found on the school grounds recently.” Hajime’s stomach tightened at the mention of the murders, his palms becoming clammy. He hadn’t really expected them to come up here.

“Well... after the incident last month, the board of directors for our school expressed a fear that someone may be attempting to tamper with the project. A fear only heightened today, let me tell you...” Jin looked off to the side, his faltering smile betraying how worn out the man must have been.

But that wasn’t what caught Hajime’s immediate attention. No, it was the way the headmaster was talking about Natsumi and Sato. As just ‘bodies’, and that the board of directors he mentioned seemed to only be concerned about saving this tech project, not about looking into the deaths of the students at their school. For the second time that day, Hajime felt his fists clenching for the same reason, once again people were disregarding the deaths of his classmates, the deaths of people he knew, the deaths of two girls he would’ve liked to get to know. But this time... what could he even do? This was the headmaster, he couldn’t stand up to him the same way he wanted to stand up to his classmates earlier. He cared about the treatment of the dead, but he cared about his place in Hope’s Peak that much more. 

How selfish...

“Quite simply put, the directors want someone to act as a nightly guard. Someone to make sure the Programme is kept safe when the students working on it aren’t around. Of course, you wouldn’t be all alone, the head of security would be on the grounds too... he just wouldn’t be joining you in the tech lab.”

Jin went on to disclose some other light details, but Hajime wasn’t taking them in. He refused to. Really? This is what this whole thing was about? A glorified body guard? He didn’t want this... he wanted to be part of something, sure, but this? He was to spend every night of his last year in high school alone, stuck in school, wandering halls that the faculty had seemed to just accept might be the stomping grounds of a murderer? Absolutely not! 

Some of Hajime’s mental discourse must’ve spilled onto his face, as Jin seemed to realise that he was none too pleased with this promised arrangement. “Ah, of course, you would be given permission to skip your morning classes. And we have a teacher in the Main Course we’ve spoken to who would be more than happy to give you after school tutoring sessions so you can keep up with the classes you miss. So, will you sign on?”

By now, it seemed as if he were pleading with Hajime. Almost like he was begging him to join. But it didn’t change Hajime’s resolve. “I’m sorry sir. With all due respect, this isn’t what I wanted to be a part of. I was lead to believe I’d have a more... hands on contribution to the project. So I’m going to have to say no sir. I won’t take the position.”

A loud laugh came from the man in the fedora, and Hajime quickly turned to face him. 

A low groan came from Jin. “Please... not right now...”

“Sorry Jin. Told ya you should’ve been honest with the kid.” The man quickly jumped to his feet, and deftly approached Hajime. It was almost intimidating, how quickly he closed the gap. “Kid, there’s something a bit deeper than what you think’s going on here. I’d tell you more, but my job’s already on the line as is.” He gave the headmaster a curt nod. “Tell you what though, a little birdie told me these two might have a bit of insight for you.” Before Hajime could even react, the man had slipped a piece of paper into one of Hajime’s pockets. “They’ll be too busy today, but first thing tomorrow, go looking for ‘em. Just for tonight, take the job. And if you aren’t satisfied tomorrow, well, I think it should be fair to let you resign. Sound better to you?”

The sales pitch was bizarre. Oddly forceful in its passiveness. Hajime would be lying if he said that he wasn’t slightly interested in this ‘something deeper’...

“...just one night?”

Koichi nodded. “Just one.”

Hajime turned back to Jin, who seemed to be momentarily preoccupied glaring a hole through Koichi. “...Alright. I’ll do one night. And if I think it’s a waste of time, I’ll be back up here tomorrow to let you know. If I’m not... I’ll keep the job.” The knot in his stomach said that he’d regret this decision for the rest of his life, and Hajime was inclined to believe that, but it was just one night, what could happen? Just one night wouldn’t hurt. 

“Wait, you’ll do it?” Jin, too, seemed skeptical. And rightly so. It hadn’t taken much to sway Hajime, but it’s not as if he was completely sold. Just one night, and a chat with these other two people.

“Yeah, I’ll sign on. And don’t worry about those tutoring sessions. It’s only one night, I’ll bring some text books with me.” Picking up one of the many pens that were also littered on Jin’s table, Hajime flipped around the piece of paper he was supposed to sign, and quickly scribbled his signature along the bottom. As he placed the pen down, he felt Koichi pat his right shoulder. 

“Smart move kiddo. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing you in that tech lab for a long time to come.”

Not longer after, Hajime was ushered out of the office by a suddenly impatient Koichi. But with that last statement lingering on his mind, he reached into his pocket as he took off back down the hall. Removing the paper, he could see that it was a pretty small square, just about palm sized, with two names and two numbers written on them. 

Kyoko Kirigiri, 78. Shuichi Saihara, 79. 

Immediately catching his attention was the first name. Kirigiri? As in, headmaster Kirigiri? Kyoko... he wasn’t aware of her by name, which wasn’t really uncommon, he didn’t know most of the Ultimate students currently attending the school, of course with the exception of some of the internationally famous students, ones like Sayaka Maizono in class 78. It was more common for others to know Ultimates by their talents, rather than by name. But not knowing that a relative of the headmaster attended the school... it almost seemed deliberate. That sounds like the ideal bit of gossip for the Reserve Course, but he hadn’t heard a single word about the headmaster having any relatives attend the school.

There were a few other questions playing on Hajime’s mind, but his train of thought was abruptly cut short as he left the stairway leading back down to the first floor, due to the fact that something had collided with him. Quite forcefully too, enough to cause him to stumble back slightly, a sharp pain in his chest. Apparently he had the better of it though, whoever had collided with him had ended up on the floor, clutching their head with one hand, a long moan of discomfort drifting up from there collapsed form.

It was a boy who had hit Hajime. Most likely running in the hall. In the hand not rubbing his head, he held a fairly thick file, the contents of which Hajime wouldn’t have been able to guess by the generic, detail-less cover. The boy himself was rather small, compared to Hajime at the very least. His brown suit, with a white button up and red tie, nearly matched his somewhat messy hair, which itself was a lighter brown. Most curiously of all was an antenna of hair that stuck out from the top of his head, not unlike the one that Hajime himself had. Though the other boys was a little more angular. Almost like he styled it that way on purpose. 

“Owwwww...” The boy groaned for a moment longer, before picking himself up from the floor, still holding his head, and brushing himself down with the file he had. He looked up at Hajime, a wry smile soon replacing his pained frown. “Oh, sorry about that. Guess I shouldn’t be running in the halls huh?” The boy let out a short laugh, the first today that seemed at all genuine... and wasn’t as disgusting as Miu’s.

“I should definitely listen to Taka more often... Ah, right, are you okay?” His sudden topic jumps seemed to indicate that the boy was a little scatterbrained, seemed about right for the type to be running in the halls anyway, even if it was still lunch period. “Hey... aren’t you from the Reserve Course?”

Hajime hadn’t even responded before that question was fired at him. “I’m fine, thanks. And yes... yes I’m from the Reserve Course.” Saying it like that felt like giving a confession. Everyone knew what it meant to be in the Reserve Course. You were a talentless nobody who had to pay their way into Hope’s Peak, and when standing in front of someone who was clearly an Ultimate, the blow was only that much harsher. But the response from the boy...

“Really? Cool! I’ve never spoken with any of you guys before. Whenever I try, you guys always seem really...” The boy began scratching his cheek with a finger. Hajime knew exactly what he was trying to say though, it was the general animosity and enmity the Reserve Course had for Ultimates. The same type fired at the photographer whenever she’d have lunch with Sato in their classroom. 

However, Hajime had always assumed it was something of a mutual sentiment, that Ultimates resented normal students like him just as much as they generally hated Ultimates, and most of the Ultimates he had spoken to today hadn’t exactly been the nicest to him. This boy though... he radiated a genuine curiosity and politeness he’d never experienced before. It was simultaneously comforting and off-putting. But in a kind of nice way.

“By the way, my name is Makoto Naegi. Again, sorry about running into you, but I’m in a bit of a hurry, did you see a girl with long purple hair go by here? I need to give her this.” He waved the file he was holding at Hajime. Purple hair... if she was the one he’d seen leaving the headmasters office, he at least knew who he was looking for. He had not, however, seen her since. 

“Sorry Makoto, no, I haven’t.”

“Aww man, and lunch is almost over. She said she wouldn’t be coming back to class...” Makoto had now started to talk to himself. Out loud. Scatterbrained indeed. “I’m going to have to get going if I want to catch her...” He moved to run right past Hajime again, but stopped himself just before he could. “Hey, I never asked for your name.”

“Hmm? Oh, Hajime. I’m Hajime Hinata.”

Makoto gave Hajime another warm smile before jogging off ahead. Before he could get too far out of range, he turned and called out to Hajime. “Bye Hajime! Maybe I’ll see you again later!” He waved as he said it. The last part certainly felt more like a statement than a question, a warm suggestion that he actually did want to see Hajime again. Another oddity of Makoto, it would seem. He really wasn’t like any of the other Ultimates he’d met today. Maybe Hajime would try and find him later...

For now though, Hajime needed to get back to his own class. Last period would start soon...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, if I didn’t really do a good job of making it clear through Miu and Makoto, I didn’t do anything crazy with the anyone’s school outfits. The DR1 and 2 cast all wear the same things we’ve seen them wear during the game/anime while at school, the and V3 cast all wear the stuff they did in the prologue of that game.


	6. Chapter 4

Classes were over. The sun had begun to dip ever so slightly below the horizon, a faint tint of orange spreading over the sky. 

As promised, Hiyoko and Ibuki, having both finished their after school activities, were heading back to the dorms to check up on Mahiru. Most of the students on the Main Course took residence in the school dorms, many had to, having been brought halfway across Japan just to attend Hope’s Peak, and they were practically mandatory for the few foreign students the school attracted. The dorms themselves weren’t exactly anything fancy, perhaps a disappointment considering that they had been built and maintained primarily through the obscene amounts of money the school raked in from the Reserve Course. Three floors, a floor for each class, and gender segregated sides; the girls had the right half of the building, boys the left. 

As they had been making their short journey, an uncertain silence had fallen over the two friends. Hiyoko, Mahiru, Ibuki, and Mikan had been friends for most of their time at Hope’s Peak together, but they’d never had to deal with a bump quite like the one they were experiencing now. Then again, who would? It would be fair to say that it’s a rarity for high school friends to have to overcome the murder of one of them, yet here they were, faced with that reality.

Typically, Mikan hadn’t been free to join them today. Something about having to stay behind for a little while longer due to a fight that broke out between some Reserve Course kids and a girl from the new class of Ultimates.

Hiyoko was certainly not the type to be particularly in tune with anyone else’s emotions, even a close friend like Mahiru’s, and despite Ibuki’s oddly perceptive understanding of other people and their emotions, she was far from calm or articulate when addressing big issues. Mikan was, to every degree, too in touch with her own emotions, and, being a nurse, was generally the best of the three for situations of comfort, after filtering through all of her tears and bubbling.

Apparently, cheering up the friend who usually does the cheering up was proving to be quite the challenge before they had even started. And it didn’t help Ibuki’s mindset that they hadn’t gotten their hands on any ice cream. 

Arriving at Mahiru’s dorm, the two glanced at each other, holding their gazes for a few moments before Hiyoko lightly tapped on the door. “Mahiru...? It’s Hiyoko and Ibuki... Can we come in...?”

No answer. 

Hiyoko tried again. Louder this time. “Mahiru? Mahiru, can you let us in?”

Again, no answer. 

Hiyoko and Ibuki shared a worried look with the other. It was likely they had both had the same thought. But that was ridiculous. Mahiru wasn’t like that... Mahiru was strong willed, stubborn... people like that didn’t usually... But considering what had happened recently, could they blame her if she had needed to... vent? She had, without question, been hit the hardest by the events of the past two months. 

This time Ibuki rapt her fist against the door, banging out a beat that would have been impossible to mimic. “C’mon Mahiruuuuuuuu, come on out! Two of your best pals need some of your sweet motherly love!” Despite the situation, Ibuki had managed to maintain a light hearted and playful tone, a fact which seemed to deeply irk Hiyoko, who aggressively stamped her heel onto one of Ibuki’s feet, which was promptly followed by a howl of pain, yet Ibuki still managed to keep one of her goofy grins on her face, even if it was a touch pained. In a way, the interaction was comforting for the both of them. A splash of their normal dynamic.

But when there was still no response from the other side of the door, that air of familiarity shattered, replaced by a murky haze of anxiety and fear. 

Hiyoko grabbed onto the door handle, her face pale and voice shaking ever so slightly. “H-hey... Come on Mahiru... We’re worried about you... we just want to make sure you’re okay...”

The door didn’t budge. But upon hearing (and feeling) a soft thud against the other side of the door, Hiyoko reeled back. 

“M-Mahiru?”

The quiet grunt of affirmation that came from within Mahiru’s room all of a sudden lifted most of the fears shared by the two on the outside. Both released a sigh of relief as Hiyoko run back to the door, her hand diving for the handle. “Mahiru! Thank... Oh thank... Look, can you let us in? We wanted to make sure you were okay after... you know...”

A short, soft laugh came from the other side of the wooden door, but both Hiyoko and Ibuki could sense how forced it was. “Oh, I’m fine. I was just... so shocked, that’s all. Just for today... I wanted to be alone for a while.” Her voice cracked, but she tried to mask it with another laugh. “I’m... I’m a bit of a mess right now. I really wouldn’t want anyone to see me like this, let alone two of my best friends.”

While Hiyoko and Ibuki were still worried for her well being, just hearing Mahiru speak offered a small comfort. Neither was satisfied with Mahiru shutting them out, but, for now, that’s just something they would have to deal with. “Umm, alright then... if you’re sure you’re okay... you’ll be back in school on Monday, right? If you don’t come back, we’ll bust down your door and drag you into class...” Hiyoko’s claim lacked any of the edge it usually would have, which she hoped would be a clear message in and of itself to Mahiru.

“Of course Hiyoko. I wouldn’t expect anything less from you two... I’m sure I’ll be back on Monday... I’m sure...”

“...okay.” They didn’t really have any choice right now. Mahiru had said her piece, and they had said theirs. All three of them knew that they would share a moment similar to this tomorrow anyway, regardless of what Monday would bring, but today the two outsiders would have to concede victory to Mahiru. 

“When you stop being a hermit, Ibuki will throw a huuuuuge party for you! There’ll be fire, and guitars, and heart stopping, face melting solo’s! Oh, oh, and Hiyoko will tooooootally do a special dance just for you!” Ibuki seemed to feel the need to chime in with her own, very Ibuki, contribution, her cackling laughter that followed soon replaced by a sharp yelp as Hiyoko’s heel collided with Ibuki’s other foot. 

From the other side of the door, Mahiru smiled to herself. A very small smile. Outside, she could hear Hiyoko and Ibuki had started bickering. She could picture it vividly, Hiyoko’s face a bright red as she verbally assaulted Ibuki, all the while Ibuki herself would be on the verge of hysterical tears, somehow always giggling through whatever belittlements spewed from Hiyoko’s mouth.

“Thank you... you two...” Mahiru let her eyes fall closed, something that was very easy for her in her dark room, and thanks to how emotionally exhausted she was. 

She knew that she’d lied to the duo, and she figured they knew it too, she wouldn’t be back on Monday. But if they were going to come over everyday, and slowly remind her of the life she had before death had driven her off course, then perhaps it would be okay. 

Perhaps someday, she’d be okay. 

Already wrapped in the thin sheet from her bed, Mahiru felt sleep taking her as she lay curled up against the door, listening to two of her friends engaging in their usual friendly bickering with one another. Her smile didn’t completely fade as she drifted off, her disheveled hair and a tear soaked cheek pressed against the wooden barrier she’d erected that was preventing her from jumping into the loving arms of her friends. 

The only sound echoing through Hope’s Peak’s halls was the scraping of wheels against hard floors. 

11:32pm. Hajime had only been stuck in the tech room for about an hour and a half, but he was already bored out of his mind. At least, enough so that he’d taken the swivel chair that apparently belonging to Chihiro, and was rolling around the tech room on it. 

Many of the text books he’d brought lay open, littering Miu’s operating table. Despite the menacing machinery surrounding it, Hajime had to admit that Miu had created a comfy work space. Not comfy enough to keep him working, but it would probably work for her. 

Above all though, the seething anger he had felt since arriving was preventing him from concentrating on anything. He was pissed that he’d let Mr. Kizakura play him so easily. Kizakura had fed him that promise of intrigue in hopes that it would convince Hajime to sign on. And it had worked. 

Hajime had figured out the loophole Kizakura had made all too late though. The first major problem with staking a job on information you get from other students is that tomorrow, the day Hajime was supposed to make his decision by, was a Sunday. Kyoko and Shuichi would not, under almost any circumstances be at school, and neither would he. But on the off chance they were to come by, Kizakura had given him one extra tip when he’d dropped by to see Hajime into the tech lab- that Kyoko and Shuichi would be busy with work. Even if he were to find them tomorrow, the day after, in a weeks time, they would likely be busy. Such is the life of two Ultimates. Kizakura was crafty, that was for sure, and he’d played Hajime perfectly. Given him a false hope that lasted just as long as it needed to. To a certain degree, Hajime could respect him for that, but that didn’t make him any less pissed off. Not to mention, when he came by, he’d insisted on Hajime calling him Mr. Kizakura. What an arrogant jerk.

Besides, Hajime doubted that anyone would be getting away with anything in Hope’s Peak at night, not with the security captain. He’d met the man earlier that evening, he gave Hajime simple instructions to not leave the room, as well as the key to the door. The security guy was pretty much what Hajime expected him to be, muscular and possessing a daunting stare. The only thing that didn’t seem to fit was his short, dark green hair, it wasn’t a style that screamed masculinity... But in any case, that guy was clearly more than enough of a line of defence around here. And even if he wasn’t, if some intruder came busting in, what was Hajime even going to do? Ward them off with the door key? Overwhelm them with his sheer lack of presence? 

Damn, this whole thing was a joke, he’d need to speak with the headmaster on Monday.

Potentially the worst part of the job though was that it was so, unbearably, boring. Nothing was going on! Nothing would go on! Absolutely nothing was going to happen. He was just wasting his time. 

Plus, his legs were starting to get tired from pushing himself around the room on Chihiro’s chair. 

Doing one final lap of the room, he finally resolved to stop goofing around after he accidentally collided with one of the consoles on Miaya’s side of the room. He wasn’t in the right frame of mind to really care to check if he’d damaged anything, but Hajime found intrigue replacing that dismissiveness soon after, as he noticed his collision had caused a notebook to fall from atop one of the many consoles.

While Hajime would typically have the integrity to not look through a girls stuff, especially one he barely knew, this notebook caught his eye. Mostly because... it looked off. Something about the thickness of the binding, like, there should’ve been more pages in it than there actually were. Maybe Hajime was just looking for a justification to take a look inside... but it wasn’t like this thing was her diary.

Hajime rolled himself over to Miu’s table, brushed his books aside, and placed the notebook onto it. And as he opened it up, he realised that he may have had a right to be suspicious. Thumbing through the book, looking at the spine, based on where little slips remained, it was clear that many pages had been ripped from the book, and hastily, if he had to guess. And all of the pages remaining were blank... She probably just hadn’t finished this book, it must’ve been new. She had a few other books on her console, this must’ve fallen off the very top of the pile. 

Makes sense, the newest one should logically be on top, if it had notes on the project in it. But this one didn’t. It had, well, nothing. Maybe it was just that new?

Sighing, Hajime hefted his body up onto the table, laying down, staring up, having moved the notebook to lay on top of his chest. Typical, just when he thought he’d have something interesting to look into, it turned out to be nothing. He could easily go and pick out some of her other books, and hey, maybe Yasuke keeps extra manga around his own station, but rooting through all of their stuff was just wrong, regardless of how well he did or didn’t know them. 

He’d put the book back later. Right now... an odd wave of calm had swept over him. Miu’s work place was really cozy to just lay on, if not for the aggressive scent of oil it would be a perfect work spot for him. Even so, he felt his eyes closing. Well, it shouldn’t be too big a deal to take a little nap. The door was locked, no one could get in, and he was pretty tired. Heh, maybe he could get ‘fired’ for sleeping on the job... and with that last thought on his mind, and a smug smile on his face, Hajime prepared for sleep to take him...

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed. That happens when you sleep, you lose all sense of time. But his sudden awakening felt quite different to the usual sleepy dissonance. As Hajime began to stir, something didn’t feel right. He wasn’t laying down anymore, he was sitting. The scent of oil was gone, replaced by a warm, stuffy air. Thin shafts of light he could tell, even with his eyes closed, were artificial lit up his face, they felt like they had been directed straight into his closed eyes.

A voice then cut through the air. A voice Hajime had never heard before. A voice that was calm, yet seemed to carry a foreboding and menacing undertone. A voice that forced Hajime to open his eyes. 

“Ah, another young guest. Welcome to the Velvet Room...”


	7. Chapter 5

Hajime was sat face to face with an old man with a freakishly long nose. In fact, everything about the man was creepy, heightened only by the blue hue that tinted the room, casting foreboding and ominous shadows across the mans face.

Beside him stood a girl that somehow looked simultaneously out of place and right at home. A woman wrapped in a blue dress that had way too many sets of buttons on it for all of them to be necessary. Seriously, three descending columns of buttons on a dress? Not to mention the knee high blue boots and the big blue bow in her hair. The black tights were just about the only part of her ensemble that looked like it belonged in any fashionable reality.

The woman herself though... there was something vaguely familiar about her. Hajime was almost certain he’d seen her before, maybe once or twice, and he was positive that it had been at Hope’s Peak.

Her long, blonde hair seemed to sway in a nonexistent breeze, only adding to the air significance she exuded; one of both kindness and authority, a pleasant regality. Hajime couldn’t help but admire the woman’s porcelain beauty, her fair skin, small nose, pretty and engaging eyes- the porcelain beauty of a doll, the type that really has no place in reality. Perhaps the disregard for reality was what also made her feel a tad off to Hajime. Her outfit and face were unreal, but in drastically different meanings of the word. 

The room he found himself in gave off a foreboding, near oppressive, aura. It seemed to be modelled after a classroom, though with only a single desk- the one he was sat at- and a long table for the old man to sit at. In fact, it looked very similar to the desk he’d seen in the headmasters office earlier. 

Near enough all of the windows had been covered, draped in either dark blue curtains or sheets, Hajime couldn’t tell which, though two remained untouched, both positioned a little too perfectly on his immediate left and right, one looking out into a pitch black hallway, the other letting in the thick stream of light that illuminated the room. From what Hajime could tell, there was nothing to see out there. Just a wall of blue light.

The thing that took Hajime’s notice most keenly though was the blackboard hung behind the old man and young woman. It was covered end to end, corner to corner, in dust, chalk dust most likely, although it too seemed otherworldly, as if, no matter how hard one tried, one would not be able to blow or wipe away the dust coating the board. 

“Ah, quite the intriguing guest we have today...” The old man began, instantly snapping Hajime’s attention to him. If his paradoxically soft yet raspy voice wasn’t enough to hook one to him, his unwavering smile and bulging, bloodshot, eyes certainly ensured that Hajime would keep his focus on the man as well, and very little else while he was talking. “Good evening, young man. My name is Igor. The place you currently find yourself in exists between dreams and reality, mind and matter.” For some reason, Hajime didn’t feel shocked or shaken by the statement, nor did he feel a need to question it. It was a behaviour he found both unnatural and perfectly reasonable, as if he was experiencing two conflicting trains of thought. He should have questions, he should be panicking, this ‘dream’ was far too ‘real’ to be normal, and he knew that, but another part of him didn’t feel the need to question any of it. As if this was all perfectly reasonable to occur within one’s head, to have an emotional response like the one he was having, or more accurately wasn’t having. This part of him was one he’d never encountered before, a part of him that found this ‘dream’... boring. 

Igor soon continued with his monologue, one that seemed to be rehearsed it was so concise. “This is a special place, one in which only a chosen few may enter. You are not currently one of our true guests, but that shall change very soon. You, dear boy, have a fate most interesting indeed.” If he could, Hajime was sure that Igor would have stretched his smile even wider when saying that. The statement was certainly ominous, and was about to get much worse.

“You will soon be faced with danger, and when that danger arrives, you shall return to this room. It is at this time that you will be given the opportunity to sign the contract, to officially embark upon your fated journey. When that time comes, it will only be you and my assistant...” Igor gave a slight hand gesture towards the woman. “Her name is Sonia, and she will be the one to start you on your path, and integrate you as a guest in the Velvet Room.” 

“Now, before you leave, there is one more important detail you must know. One with a fate such as yours cannot bear the burden alone. You must learn to forge bonds with those around you- these bonds will be your true strength. The bonds you will forge with others are your Social Links, they will be vital to your true potential, the key to your fate...” Igor trails off. But it isn’t ominous, not this time. At least, not to Hajime. 

A force deep inside of him had compelled him to remain silent throughout the whole interaction, and even as it seemed to conclude. Perhaps it was the knowledge of this being a dream? But could it really be so simple? Why else then? He feared he’d never know the true answer. 

“For now, we shall part ways. But our fates are interconnected. We will see each other again, young man...” 

Actually, no, Hajime didn’t fear his lack of knowledge. That would be so... utterly boring. Predictable.

The last thing he remembered of the room was the girl, Sonia, giving him a small, polite wave...

Hajime awoke with a start. He was breathing heavily. Wait... why? Was it his dream? No, it couldn’t be, he couldn’t even remember what he’d been dreaming about, and he’d only just woken up. What time was it? That seemed more important right now...

Quickly checking his phone, Hajime soon got his answer. It was 4:48AM. Sunday, April 14th. Damnit, he’d ended up sleeping through almost his entire ‘shift’, as it were. He’d been told the head of security would relieve him of his ‘duty’ at 5AM, or there about. Apparently it was to give him enough time to go back to his dorm room and get ready for the school day. Usual stuff, shower, breakfast, stuff like that. Well, since it was Sunday, he wouldn’t be returning to school anyway, instead he’d probably remain cooped up in his room, studying. What else would he do?

Practically jumping off of Miu’s table, he took a quick look around the tech room. Nothing had been touched, at least from what he could see. Although, that did remind him, he’d need to set things back that he’d moved. And to that end, he spent the last ten minutes he had scrambling around the room to get it back to how he’d found it.

Miu’s tools that he’d moved so he could use her bench to study and sleep? Back in their disorganised pile. Chihiro’s wheelie chair? Back nestled between her tiny labyrinth of computers. But the notebook... Hajime had hesitated. He wasn’t sure why but... he pocketed it. Anyway, Miaya wouldn’t miss it, would she? There was nothing in it. 

Hajime released a soft sigh he hadn’t realised he’d been holding onto. Part of it was definitely out of relief due to the fact that he didn’t want to get caught taking advantage of his job (although he really felt he had all rights to, considering that Koichi had taken advantage of him), but the other half was because he hated Sunday’s. Most kids loved the weekend. But not him. Not anymore anyway. For him, all Sunday served as was a cruel reminder that he didn’t have any real friends at school, as well as of the pressure of being associated with Hope’s Peak- not studying at every opportunity was a guaranteed ticket out of the Reserve Course. In his mind at least. 

Well... the security guy should be here any minute now. Soon, he’d be back in his room, a full day of loathing ahead. Sometimes he wondered what other kids did on Sundays. Normal high school kids sometimes, yeah, but usually his mind tried to imagine a different group. 

“I wonder how the Ultimates get to enjoy their Sunday’s...”

During the early hours of the morning, at a small café not too far from the dorms, Kyoko Kirigiri and Shuichi Saihara sat face to face, a few files spread about the table they had occupied. 

“Uh, Kyoko? I appreciate you letting me be a part of this case, but honestly, I don’t think I’m going to be much help. I-I’ve only ever solved one case before... and-uh...” Throughout his muttering, Shuichi had been tugging on the brim of his cap, sliding it slightly further down his field of vision, however, that didn’t stop Kyoko from immediately catching his stare when she looked up from the table, nor did it stop Shuichi from seeing the slight furrow of her eyebrows which told him to shut up. 

“Stop doubting yourself. I’ve only spoken to you a handful of times, yet you always find a way to discredit your own capabilities. In circumstances such as yours, it does not matter what you think, it matters that you have your title. Not just anyone can be a detective, even fewer with the capacity to be an Ultimate one.” Kyoko’s voice was calm and quiet, yet stern and cutting. It was one of many qualities she possessed that Shuichi wished he had himself.

“But I-“

“As I said, it doesn’t matter if you don’t think you’ve earned it. You are an Ultimate Detective. It’s a simple fact Shuichi.” Shuichi’s hand fell from his hat, but he didn’t push the rim back up. Granted for a much different reason this time. 

He could feel the heat burning his cheeks. 

Unlike most others, Shuichi had been aware of Kyoko’s talent (and her existence) before coming to Hope’s Peak. He should’ve, even with how the Kirigiri family likes laying low, they are big names in the world of crime and law enforcement. A world Shuichi wanted to be a part of, but... as an Ultimate? Still he was burdened by his own hesitation, his own self doubt.

Kyoko was something of an idol to him. Where most teens had pop stars, or sporting personalities- he had Kyoko. Thinking about it, it was kind of like having a celebrity crush, aspiring to be at a level you knew you’d never attain. Maybe that’s why he jumped at the chance to take this case. To prove himself to more than just him, but also to someone he idolises. But the reality was that that this case was out of his league. A potential serial murder case. Some might see a serial murder case as just the next step from the type of murder case he’d solved before, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“If the two victims didn’t have history with each other, I would struggle to believe these cases are related in any way.” Kyoko didn’t really need to say it, it was just a way to get him re-engaged with what they were discussing.

The two were investigating the murders of two Reserve Course students. Though they had initially assumed the two were connected, a specific detail of the first victim had stumped the both of them. No one had been able to find a cause of death for her. The second victim was the complete opposite. The weapon had been left behind, and it was very clear that the bat was indeed what killed her. The peculiar thing about Sato, however, was the fact that she had sustained two injuries. Clearly from the bat, but one blow from that thing should’ve been enough to kill her. Seemingly, this implied that the killer was hesitant, to a degree, that they weren’t sure if they should go through with the murder. At least, that’s what it seemed like to Shuichi. He hadn’t exactly discussed that with Kyoko yet.

There was something else that differed between the two. That being that the first victim had been missing for a few days prior to the discovery of her body. In short, everything about the murder of Natsumi Kuzuryu was a total mystery: no cause of death; no one knew her whereabouts around the time of death; not even a single piece of evidence left behind. Why? And more importantly, how?

Kyoko quite suddenly stood up from the small table they were sat at. “Hmm? K-Kyoko?”

“Let’s go. Just looking at the files isn’t going to do us anymore good. I want to see if I can examine the bodies myself. I just hope my father doesn’t get in the way...” Scooping up all of the files on her side of the table, she didn’t wait for Shuichi before she took her leave. 

Stumbling after her, having collected the last couple of files, it didn’t take long for him to catch up with her. “But, Kyoko... if we’re looking at bodies, well, that could take all day. Without a known cause of death, the examination could take hours... what about any other pieces of evidence? W-we could miss something huge because we just looked in the wrong place.”

Kyoko continued to look ahead, but Shuichi noticed a rarity on her face. She was smiling. Once more, Shuichi felt the need to obscure the glow his cheeks took on. “Don’t worry about that. I recruited some extra help yesterday. He’ll be investigating the school for us today. He won’t let us down, he’ll find something. I have faith he will find something for us. He’s the type to always come through in the end.”

Shuichi had never heard Kyoko talk like that before. It wasn’t really that her tone changed but... well, maybe it was a spark of detectives intuition, but she just seemed different as soon as she mentioned this extra help. 

Whatever the case, it made Shuichi’s heart pound in a way that was fully alien to him.


	8. Chapter 6

With his hands rested against the back of his head, Fuyuhiko rocked back and forth in the chair he was sat in. He was trying to act nonchalant, to just pretend everything was normal, but he was far too self aware to think that it was working. He was distraught. Uncomfortably nervous. His finger tips were digging into the back of his head. He had a strong feeling he knew what conversation he was about to have. But he wished Peko would just stay out of this affair. 

“Young Master... It isn’t my place to say this, but you acted too rashly. No one knows what really happened to your sister.”

The fact that Peko seemed, at least on the surface, calm only served to unnerve Fuyuhiko even further, a feeling he could usually cope with, manipulate into anger, make himself pissed off- but he couldn’t manage it with Peko. He’d never been able to do it in the past, and he couldn’t do it now. “I know enough. I know my sister is dead. And I know she was killed at school. I’m also pretty fuckin’ sure I know the people at school most likely to kill ‘er off. I made the right choice Peko. You can’t convince me otherwise, not this time...”

“Young Master...” It wasn’t like Peko to bring things like this up. She always sided with Fuyuhiko and the decisions he made. And though a small part of him was glad she was showing a will of her own for once, he couldn’t help but feel like he’d let her down. 

Natsumi’s death was certainly a deep blow, she was one of the children of the head of the clan, but she was also a young, inexperienced girl- she wasn’t really a top priority. And that was something he was fine with, he’d lived surrounded by the belief that the weak die, and the strong prosper. Natsumi was weak, and he was strong. Right? That’s why he was still alive, and she was dead, right? “You don’t believe you made the right choice either, do you, Young Master.” It was a statement, not a question. And a true one at that. 

“Of course I made the right choice. What could possibly make you think otherwise?” Fuyuhiko struggled to make his threatening tone hold any weight, another thing he failed at constantly when around Peko. 

“If you were confident you knew you were right, you would have killed the girl in one blow. And...”

“Stop Peko. I just fucked up the first swing, the bitch was running, I’m lucky I even landed it.”

“Why didn’t you kill our classmates?”

Clenching his teeth, Fuyuhiko pulled his hands from behind his head. If he were any more tense, he’d soon puncture the skin. “What? Kill four other bitches? The first one was a warning. I’ll deal with ‘em later...”

“You don’t mean that. If you were as resolute as you say, you would’ve killed them that night too. In fact, you wouldn’t have waited so long to enact your vengeance either. You’re very head strong Young Master, you never hesitate to do what you think is right.”

He should’ve never told Peko. This was the closest he’d ever been to having an outright argument with her. And even the thought of that twisted the knife in his stomach even deeper. “It’s none of your business what I’m like Peko. For a tool, you’re pretty fuckin’ meddlesome.”

He regretted it the second the words left his lips. He didn’t mean it, both of them knew that, but the momentary fear and sorrow in Peko’s eyes, the way her entire body visibly tensed when he said it, only made him despise himself even more. If anyone else had said it, she likely wouldn’t have been fazed. 

But he said it. It was because he said it that it hurt. 

It seemed Peko had no further inquiry’s after that though, or maybe she’d lost her own resolve after the comment. The two turned away from each other, Peko towards the door, and Fuyuhiko to a window. “You’re kind, Young Master. Too kind for the yakuza business. Your choice was one you cannot take back, but you will be forgiven. I know you will. I know you wouldn’t, but please don’t interfere any further with the personal lives of our classmates. I fear you will be unable to cope with the sorrow you may sow.” Fuyuhiko couldn’t see Peko, couldn’t see her expression, couldn’t see if she was as torn up as he was. All he heard was the gentle sliding shut of the door. “Goodbye... Young Master...”

She was gone. He wasn’t sure how long she’d be gone, or how long it would be until he could see her again. 

There had been many nights where he’d cry, cry himself to sleep, cry during his sleep, maybe even cry after a nightmare. 

This was the first time he could remember crying so late in the morning. 

“M-maybe you should just l-leave her alone for a few days? M-Mahiru might just need some time alone, sh-she spends so much time taking care of others, she p-probably just needs some time to take care of herself for once...”

Hiyoko was already tired of Mikan’s stammering. She hadn’t come to Mikan to have her tell her the same thing Ibuki did, she wanted someone who’d side with her. She could only ever count on Mahiru to always stand by her side, but she didn’t have that luxury this time. “Shut up pig barf, that’s total bullshit! Mahiru needs our help! We can’t just wait for her to get over it, we’ll have graduated before that happens...” Hiyoko hoped her pouting would work, it usually did on Mikan. And it’s not as if she was acting completely selfishly, she wanted to help Mahiru. She wanted to be the good friend for once. 

“I-I’m sorry Hiyoko... but I think it’s for the best. I m-may not specialise in m-mental healthcare, but I don’t think what Mahiru needs is all of us crowding around her r-right now. S-sometimes, even when it feels wrong, people need to be left alone...”

Mikan was only ever even remotely assertive when talking about the health and well-being of others, and she was usually right about it, but Hiyoko couldn’t possibly agree this time. She was right, Mikan and Ibuki were wrong. If they didn’t step in to help Mahiru now, no one would. The shit stains they called classmates would let her rot away in her room as far as she was concerned. 

An accusatory finger was soon pointed at Mikan, and Hiyoko felt the volume of her voice rising. “What do you know, dog shit?! We have to help her right now! I’ll bet she’s super depressed after what’s happened, and you’re just going to sit there and bitch like the whiny baby you are! You know what she’ll do if we leave her all alone? She’s going to do something awful!” Hiyoko hadn’t realised it, but her hands were firmly grasping her arms, as if hugging herself for some kind of comfort. “What are you going to do if it turns out she’s in her room cutting herself like some... like some freak because she’s so depressed?! Huh?! What if she kills herself because you and Ibuki don’t want to help her, huh?! It’ll be all your fault! Because you did nothing about it!” 

Hiyoko was shouting near enough as loud as she possibly could. But Mikan didn’t hear any real anger in her voice. Not alone anyway. She heard desperation, fear, anxiety, but above all, sadness. The despair coating Hiyoko’s words was easy to hear. They were lucky that no one else was in the dorms main lounge this early in the morning, otherwise this scene would have become far messier than either of them wanted. Then again, if they had an audience, maybe Hiyoko wouldn’t have exploded the way she did. Regardless, even if people weren’t around before, Hiyoko’s shouting would probably dare a couple of students out at least. 

“H-Hiyoko...! Please don’t say things like that...” Tears were threatening to spill from Mikan’s eyes, but that wouldn’t make Hiyoko relent. They never did. 

“What? You saying that wouldn’t happen? Of course it could, you fucking dip-shit!” Hiyoko’s breath was shaky, and tears of her own threatened to start pouring down her face. “I hope the next time you fall over, it’s onto the sharpest knife in the world!”

Hiyoko could feel Mikan’s eyes staring holes into the back of her kimono as she stormed off. 

“H-Hiyoko! Please wait! Don’t d-do anything hasty...!” But she wouldn’t pursue Hiyoko. Mikan would just stand there, frozen, like a deer in headlights. 

Of course the possibility of Mahiru becoming so deeply depressed she’d take action that severe had crossed Mikan’s mind, it wasn’t as uncommon as she wished it was, but she had to have some faith. Faith, not that Mahiru would be ‘too strong’ to avoid have inclinations like the ones Hiyoko suggested, but that she’s be strong enough to seek help if she needed it. Preferably Mikan’s help, even if she didn’t excel in that particular medical field. “M-maybe I should check on her today... I-it might let me understand her current mental situation...” Mikan clutched her hands over her chest, she’d rather not be a hypocrite, after what she told Hiyoko, but she had managed to fill Mikan’s head with some unsavoury ideas. Plus, if she was there, she could make sure Hiyoko didn’t do anything rash, right? Right...

“Hiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiikooooooooo!” Tenko Chabashira was engaging in what had quickly become part of her morning routine- pounding on Himiko Yumeno’s door so she could see her. Usually she’d do it so they could walk to school together, but on a Sunday all she wanted was to get at least a small portion of her required daily dosage of Himiko. And if she was lucky, maybe Himiko would answer in a cute little nightgown! Hopefully accompanied by an adorable, sleepy face too! Tenko quickly rubbed the her sock against the hallway carpet, a few drops of drool had accumulated on the floor, and how could she ever face Himiko if she ruined the carpet outside of her room?

“Oh, no no no Tenko, that’s just dirty.” A playful voice rang out from behind Tenko, and she totally instinctively, not at all out of surprise of fear, jumped forward, banging her nose against Himiko’s door. 

“Hey Angie...” A lot of Tenko’s own excitement suddenly drained away as she rubbed her nose with the back of her hand. Angie just... bugged Tenko. Something about how she’s always talking about Atua, or how she seems to always find a way to hang out with Himiko before she can. What would she even know about socks anyway, she walks around the dorms barefoot. 

Angie never seemed to lack energy, even after just approaching Tenko, smiling at her, her body was swaying side to side. “What are you doing anyway Tenko? Didn’t you know that Himiko isn’t in?”

Tenko threw up an eyebrow. Not only was the suggestion that Himiko would ever be awake naturally before midday absolutely ludicrous, but how could Angie be so sure? “But... where’s Himiko if she isn’t in her room? And why wouldn’t she tell me where she’s going?”

“Hold on, let me ask Atua.” Angie never seemed to miss a beat, hands clasped above her head, a skilful way to dodge Tenko’s questions for a few moments. 

Tenko had been on and off the campus hundreds of times over the last year as part of her screening process, and whenever she’d interacted with Angie, unfortunately frequently with how often she was with Himiko, the girl had always managed to parade around her religion. Somehow, there was always a way. “Ah-ha! Atua has told me exactly where Himiko is! She is currently on the top floor of the dorms!”

“What? Why is Himiko up there? I didn’t think she was friends with any of the third years...” 

“Didn’t you know Tenko? She was staying in someone’s room overnight. As part of her mage training.”

Tenko almost began frothing at the mouth, her arms swinging around erratically. “And she didn’t tell her best friend what she was doing? It could be dangerous! I’ve heard of some serious predators amongst the third years, even by usual degenerate standards!”

“Maybe she didn’t tell you because you were held back after school yesterday. Atua says he will forgive you for assaulting those poor Reserve Course students by the way, as you believed you were doing it for a good cause.”

“Hey, I don’t just believe, I know! Those filthy degenerates were trying to snoop on the girls bathroom! I was protecting the innocence of those wonderful girls!”

“Nyeh... What are you talking about...?” Both Tenko and Angie spun, both caught unaware by the sudden appearance of Himiko. 

“Ah, H-Himiko! I was just here to wake you up. As your best friend, it’s my duty to make sure you’re always up to have breakfast.”

“Uh-oh Tenko, you shouldn’t tell such obvious lies. You wear your heart on your sleeve, and on your cheeks.” Angie playfully poked one of Tenko’s scarlet cheeks. 

Angie’s happy-go-lucky voice would have normally made Tenko grumble, but her spirits need not drop with Himiko here. 

“A-anyway, Himiko, why didn’t you tell me you were spending the night with one of the seniors? And why didn’t you tell me you had senior friends?”

“Nyeh... I didn’t see the point... it’d be such a pain to have told you.” Himiko wore her usual, unflinchingly tired expression, even while complaining about a problem Tenko was sure didn’t actually exist. “I spent the evening performing a ritual to restore my MP...”

“Oh? There’s another mage among the third year students? Is she nice?” To both Himiko and Angie, Tenko suddenly seemed uncharacteristically interested in the goings on of someone else, though perhaps it was only because they had contact with Himiko. 

“Yes... he’s a very powerful mage. However, even the Supreme Overlord of Ice is no match for Himiko Yumeno, the Ultimate Mage! Nee-hii-hii-hii!” With her hands on her hips, Himiko smiled widely as she let out the least threatening cackle that has ever graced the world. 

Tenko would have usually allowed herself to get caught up in Himiko’s adorable expression and infectious laughter, but her entire being was focused on something else. On one word she said. “‘He’? Y-you stayed o-overnight... w-with a b-boy...? W-w-with...”

Himiko crossed her two index fingers, smiling at nothing in particular, her cheeks rosy in a contented flush. “Yeah... he let me pet his white tiger. It was really cute.”

“P-p-p-pe-p-pet... pet him... what does that mean...? Is that a dirty joke...? Did that filthy degenerate...” Tenko had begun mumbling to herself, an incoherent rumble of sound accompanied by bulging eyes and a new layer of foam to froth from her mouth. Himiko and Angie shared a momentary glance at each other before Angie took the conversational initiative. 

“So, Himiko, would you like to spend the day with me? Even Atua needs days off, and He says that the weather will be very nice to us today.”

“Nyeh... I guess so... I am full on MP, so I guess today would be the good day to do something.” Himiko looked over to Tenko before turning back to Angie. “What should we do with her...?”

Angie raised a finger to her lips, before smiling and grabbing Tenko’s wrist. “Atua says the more the merrier!”

“...what a pain...” Himiko let out a small, yet exaggerated sigh that was soon followed up with a smile. Starting to walk away from her dorm room, Angie quickly followed, dragging a still incoherent Tenko by her wrist to enjoy a day of fun in the spring sun.


	9. Chapter 7

“Owwwww, oww oww oww...”

A hand firmly placed itself over Makoto’s mouth, trying to hush his unfortunately loud declarations of discomfort as he was climbing in through a classroom window. His homeroom window. On the second floor of the school. 

Without the aid he’d requested, he knew he’d never get in, not without some serious luck, and, despite his talent, luck wasn’t something Makoto was willing to bet his future on. After the hand was rather hastily removed from his face, he hushed his voice, a little more conscious now that he wasn’t half stuck in a window frame. “Thank you so much Mukuro. Honestly, I’d have no idea what to do without you.”

His smile was kind, innocent, and above all- genuine. Perhaps that’s what Mukuro loved most about Makoto. Or maybe it was that she’d never had those things aimed towards her. Most of her own life she’d been isolated, to some extent, be it working as a soldier abroad, or training in isolation back home, and her family life wasn’t exactly what one could call warm and loving. But Makoto radiated a kindness that she had never encountered before. She could trust him. She knew that for a fact. She also knew that she couldn’t bear to have him see the blush that had begun to warm her cheeks, and thus she refused to face him as she waited for it to fade, clutching the hand she’d instinctively clamped over his mouth against her chest. “A-anytime Makoto. I’d do anything for yo-uh... a friend...? Y-yes, friends. Those.”

Behind her, she could hear Makoto softly chuckling to himself. She dared not imagine what he would look like as he did, the mere thought of his gentle expression causing her entire body to stiffen to attention. 

“I am sorry that I had to get you involved though. We are kinda committing a crime right now... not that I thought to ask you because I assumed you knew how to commit crimes, uh, that’s not the thought that went through my mind at all! And look at us, neither of us are exactly dressed to break in, are we...”

Mukuro didn’t doubt for a second that he meant that. All of it too. Neither one of them were dressed for camouflage or stealth. Makoto wore his usual Sunday attire, his hoodie and what she assumed to be old school clothes. They looked like as such, his trousers and jacket anyway. Sure, it was dark, but also very distinctive, with the hoodies red patterning. And even with a hood, there was very little chance to hide that antenna that stuck out of his hair. Her own usual Sunday attire would’ve probably worked just fine, she usually just wore either her school uniform or an old army uniform, but, well...

Makoto had requested for Mukuro’s help breaking into Hope’s Peak the day before. He was trying to be secretive, she could tell, and he omitted any real detail as to what they would be doing when he asked, saving that for earlier this morning. So instead, all she’d got was something like ‘hey, wanna hang out tomorrow? There’s something I have to do, and I really need you there for it. Can you meet me outside of the dorms at 8AM?’ And when she told that to Junko... it seemed like Junko thought Makoto had asked her on a date. And as such, denied Mukuro any and all access to her ‘dirty and uncool’ clothing. It’s not like she owned any date-wear anyway, she’d never been on one, and her occupation as a soldier vary rarely allowed time for that sort of thing. The resulting choice of clothing ended up as just a white button-up and red skirt, which was pretty much her school outfit anyway, but the colour combination made her stand out like a sore thumb when trying to sneak into a building that had decent security. Granted, she had managed to get both herself and Makoto in undetected by any staff or guards, but that didn’t mean an awful lot considering that they had only just begun their little espionage. 

The plan was that Makoto would sneak into school today and look around for any hints or clues pertaining to the murders that had occurred at the school recently. Apparently Kyoko Kirigiri asked him to do it for her, a proposition that somewhat confused Mukuro. Surely Kyoko would be much better for this sort of assignment than Makoto would. So perhaps there was something stopping her? Or maybe she just needed to get multiple things done as quickly as possible, it’s not like either one of them knew what Kyoko was even doing today. Even so, one upside was that she’d get to spend the day with Makoto, and without any other girl clinging to him. Well, Kyoko didn’t cling, but Sayaka certainly did...

“Mukuro? You alright?” Mukuro almost leapt backwards, she’d gotten so lost in her own thoughts that she failed to notice Makoto had snuck around her. She must be losing her edge, no Ultimate Soldier should have let that get past them...

“Yes, I’m f-fine. Sorry. Uh, let’s get going! We shouldn’t stay in one place for too long, it will raise our chances of being spotted.” Squatting down just enough so that no one would see her from outside, she began their rounds of the halls. She could hear Makoto fumbling about behind her, trying to mimic her style, but for once, her mind wasn’t on Makoto. Instead, she was wondering about how they were going to find what they were looking for when even the Ultimate Detective couldn’t tell them what to look out for...

By the time Kyoko and Shuichi had finished their second examinations of the victims, it was already late in the afternoon, the sun barely poking over the horizon, blanketing the same café they had occupied that morning in a deep, calming wash of orange. 

Unfortunately, Kyoko nor Shuichi could bask in the beautiful sunset. Shuichi had needed to step away for a moment, he had to take a phone call, which left Kyoko alone to stir over the notes they had taken earlier. 

Sato: very clear cut- the wound was plain to see, weapon was at the crime scene, and she had her key suspects already lined up in her head. But Natsumi’s case had left both herself and Shuichi stumped. 

Natsumi’s body was exactly how it was described in the initial report, which was what caused the most issues. Without an evident cause of death, no one, not even two Ultimate Detective’s were able to put a dent into that one. At the very least, Natsumi did help in one way- her body inadvertently pointed the finger at Sato’s killer. Obviously, the person who killed Sato was not the one who killed Natsumi- after all, if one had a method to kill without leaving any evidence, logically they would use it. In addition to that, no one at Hope’s Peak had any conceivable motive for killing the two of them, one or the other, maybe, but both? No. Perhaps a more flimsy deduction, but one she’d come to nonetheless. 

Sato’s murder felt more as if it were done to make a point. A statement. And Kyoko believed that to be a statement of revenge. At least, it seemed most likely within the context of the evidence they had. Kyoko’s number one suspect was Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu for that exact reason. 

To her understanding, Fuyuhiko was notoriously close with his little sister. In addition to that, Sato and Natsumi had a fairly lengthy history together, which would certainly lead someone like Fuyuhiko to assume Sato killed his sister, only compounded by the world a yakuza like him lives in, a world where killing out of revenge isn’t uncommon. All in all, Fuyuhiko seemed to her like the most obvious suspect. On a more personal level though, she had some doubts. 

For starters, why would he assume that it was Sato who committed the murder. Though Sato may have a semblance of a motive, a couple of other students in Fuyuhiko’s own class would fit the bill just as well. She couldn’t blame him for not being aware of the cause of death issue, but just picking one seemed too rash, even for someone as hot headed as him. And if he were unsure, why stop at just one? Why not kill anyone who he suspected?

Another slight point of contention was the gap between the murders. Perhaps minor, but if Fuyuhiko was uncertain, and waited nearly a month to act, why act at all? It was one tiny factor that made her doubt Fuyuhiko’s involvement, but too many other details came together in too perfect of a way to disregard him. 

But then again, he is a yakuza. Petty revenge taken on a whim wasn’t some extraordinary occurrence in that world. And to be frank, she couldn’t blame him for wanting to take revenge on someone who he believed had hurt his family. 

It was an issue of morality, and age old question of the righteousness of vengeance. One she knew Shuichi was all too familiar with. 

At some point during her pondering, Shuichi had returned, silently waiting for her to acknowledge him, toying with the rim of his cap as he did so. His return was certainly welcome though, taking Kyoko’s mind away from the case for a moment was something she felt she needed. “How is your friend doing? I hear he’s been in and out of hospital lately.”

Shuichi notably stiffened at the question. Likely a bit of a sensitive subject, but one he seemed willing enough to talk about. “Kaito? He’s... well, I think he’s doing okay. He wasn’t who I was talking to...” A slight eyebrow raise from Kyoko prompted him to continue, though he seemed to lower the brim of his cap slightly as he spoke. “Another of Kaito’s friends. A girl in my class. K-Kaito was pretty eager for her to become friendlier with the class, she seemed very lonely. But he gave her my number without asking me, and, well... I don’t think she has a lot of social experience. She calls me a lot, and it’s usually just to say hi, or ask a quick question. I th-think Kaito was right about how lonely she is...”

“Is that not a dream of boys your age? To have a girl like that?”

It took Shuichi a few moments to fully understand Kyoko’s meaning. And as soon as he did he reverted to his meek, bumbling side. “O-our r-relationship isn’t like that! She’s j-just trying to practise being casual and friendly! B-besides, I’m already-” Shuichi abruptly cut off his own rambling, the pink glow of his face evident even when he took his hat off to bury his face in it, an exaggerated whine seeping through the fabric. 

Kyoko couldn’t hold back the small smile that soon appeared while watching him. In a way, he reminded her quite a lot of a shyer version of Makoto. When it came to social interactions at least. Shuichi was certainly as earnest as Makoto, that was for sure. 

Promptly standing, Kyoko collected the notes she’d adorned the table with, folding the small, neat pile and sliding it into her jacket pocket. “I’ll see you again tomorrow Shuichi. I believe this case may take longer to solve than I first thought. After school, meet me here. Goodnight.”

Her exit was straight to the point, rather terse, and slightly jarring to Shuichi, considering what had occurred in the moments beforehand. But perhaps it was for the best. He had his own theories on the case, and if he wanted to catalogue them tonight, he’d need all the time he could get. After all, Maki had asked him to go with her to visit Kaito tonight.

It felt to Makoto as if they’d been wandering the school halls for hours. Probably because they had been. A couple of hours of ‘investigating’ and they’d found exactly nothing. 

Thanks to Mukuro, they had evaded a few close calls, the odd member of staff wandering the same hall they were, but that was the only thing of note that happened. Although, Makoto had to admit, seeing the Ultimate Soldier in action, without death being involved, was actually pretty cool. Her evading of all the security cameras was a sight to see.

Now though, they were in the last room of the day. The Tech Department. Apparently, some big project was going on in here, so most people weren’t allowed in under usual circumstances, Makoto only even knew anything about it because Chihiro was a part of the project, and even then she had been really good at keeping the whole thing a mystery. 

Makoto was pretty awful with computers, so when rummaging around the room, looking for any out of place object that could be a good clue for Kyoko’s investigation, he steered clear of anything with a monitor. Which, sure, may have been over half the room, but it’s not like he could safely dig through computer files, right? 

Mukuro wasn’t faring any better, she looked even more baffled by the tech than he did. Most likely an unfortunate side effect of being considered a living weapon, or one of many side effects- you don’t need to know much of the technical stuff if you do your job without it. He could feel her nervous gaze on his back pretty much whenever he looked away. Poor girl must’ve been so out of her element, huh? That’s what he supposed had to be the case.

“Makoto... did you find anything? The only things I can see are computers and documents associated with them.”

“No... no, I’ve got nothing. Shoot, I can’t believe it, an entire day of investigating, and I’m going to have to go back to Kyoko empty handed... I’m such an idiot...” Makoto rested his forehead against his palm. Today was supposed to be an opportunity for him to prove himself to Kyoko, to prove he was actually helpful. And now...

Before he could even blink, Mukuro was at his side, a supportive hand on his shoulder. “Uhhh... don’t worry about it Makoto. We can just come back another day. There were some places we couldn’t go to because staff was still here, so maybe we could come back during a holiday? No one would be here... we’d have the school all to ourselves...”

Makoto looked up, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, a small frown darkening his usual chirpy face. “I guess so, but by then it’ll be way too late to-“

“What are you two doing in here?”

Both of their heads twisted towards the door to the room, a young man having caught them red handed. Makoto froze, both from the prospect of being caught, and the chill the mans gaze shot through him. But it wasn’t actually focused on him, and he figured the question wasn’t either. It was fixed firmly on Mukuro, an action she failed to replicate, seemingly incapable of looking him in the eyes. 

“Nothing Yasuke... What are you doing here? You don’t attend to Hope’s Peak anymore...” It sounded like Mukuro knew the man. Yasuke. Makoto may have to remember that. 

“Right, nothing, or course. Sure you aren’t doing some clean up for Ryoko?”

Mukuro huffed. Aggressively. Or, more like passive aggressively. “Leave Junko out of this... besides, you didn’t answer my question.” Her tone of voice was slowly becoming more confrontational, near venomous. Clearly something had gone on between these two. Although it struck Makoto as odd that Mukuro responded to the man saying ‘Ryoko’ with ‘Junko’... maybe he just heard someone wrong? “You’re trespassing too, aren’t you? We could very easily report you... you’d be kicked off this project for something like that. 

Yasuke rolled his eyes, and began to take large strides towards the two of them. Seeing his dark expression up close caused even greater shivers to rock Makoto’s body, something he assumed Mukuro must have noticed, considering her grip on him had tightened. “Look, kid, do me a favour, and I’ll pretend I didn’t see you.”

“...depends. What is it?”

Yasuke seemed hesitant at first, as if he was mulling over what he was going to say. “Just... keep your nose out of my business. Got it?”

“Fine, deal. We’ll take our leave now...” Mukuro practically picked Makoto up like hand luggage, pulling him from the room. Though just before they left, Yasuke called out to them. 

“Hey, you haven’t by chance seem Miaya, have you? Small girl, blue-ish hair, rides around in a giant wheelchair thing? I’ve been looking for her since yesterday afternoon, but I haven’t been able to find or contact her.”

Mukuro didn’t seem to want to justify the man with a response, so Makoto stepped up. Just as the pair were turning, he mumbled a ‘no, sorry’ before the door slipped shut behind him. 

“C’mon, lets go home now...”

All of the drive Mukuro had possessed today seemed to have drained from her as soon as they’d talked to Yasuke. Makoto wanted to ask, but felt that now might not be the right time to prod. It seemed like a sensitive subject. “Yeah, I guess so. Oh, hey, thanks, by the way. For today, and just then too. You were, uh, pretty cool. I just completely froze, but you handled that pretty well. But we got out of that pretty easy... that Yasuke guy seemed to have it out for us...”

Mukuro’s eyes flew open, her mouth quickly opening and closing, a distinct flush spreading over the length of her face. “C-cool? I was c-cool? You really think I’m cool?”

Wow, she must never get any compliments. Like, ever, for her to react like that. It kind of made Makoto feel bad for her, especially since they were warranted. “Yeah, of course. Like I said, I didn’t handle it well at all. I guess I’m a bit of a wet noodle in situations like that, heh heh...” His short, self-condescending laugh was cut short by Mukuro grabbing his wrist. 

“Don’t worry Makoto. I think your attitude is much more... appealing than mine.”

“Ah, really? Well, thanks, I guess. My sister tells me I’m way too nice for my own good sometimes, but I suppose it does have a couple of perks, huh.”

Instead of responding with words, Mukuro silently nodded, again avoiding looking at Makoto. There was a brief moment the two just stood there, with her holding his wrist, and him just... standing there. But soon, she began to move, pulling him along. They needed to leave. But a small part of him really didn’t want to. 

He didn’t want to have to disappoint Kyoko at all...


	10. Chapter 8

“How boring...”

A deep, dreary voice echoed through Hajime’s head. He assumed it was his head anyway, he assumed he was in a dream.

“How boring...”

Again, those two words bounced around his mind. Why... no, he knew he exactly why. This was a part of him he never wanted to show. Simply because he didn’t want it to be true. But it was, wasn’t it? He was boring. Wasn’t he? There was nothing special about him, he couldn’t even say he was so normal it was strange. He was boring- plain and simple. 

“How boring...”

The phrase continued to reverberate throughout his mind. Why couldn’t he just have normal dreams? Last night it was a creepy old man, tonight it was something akin to an inner voice reminding him of his own inadequacy. Hajime wished it would stop. He often wished for things to stop. The judgement from people who knew he paid his way into Hope’s Peak; the idle gossiping about his recently deceased classmates; being dragged here and there to do things for other people...

Sometimes he wished life would stop. 

That thought rarely lasted long, Hajime wanted to have a future, he wanted the chance to make a difference, he wanted to be... anything but boring.

He prepared himself for the voice again... but this time a new one took its place. A voice familiar to his dreamscape, a somewhat raspy yet calm voice. One that most certainly belonged to an older man...

“You do not have to be boring, young man. All you’d need to do is to sign the contract...”

Something caused Hajime to awake with a start. He wasn’t sure what, but he had suddenly jolted awake, a few pieces of paper stuck to his chin, glued perhaps by a cold sweat or a slight drool line. 

Careful to not rip the pages, he gently peeled the sheets off of his chin, glancing at his phone all the while. He wasn’t woken by an alarm, that wasn’t set to go off for a while...

He’d managed to fall asleep at Miu’s table again, though at least he wasn’t laying on it this time. Oh, right, of course he’d fallen asleep, he’d spent the majority of the day slaving away over papers he didn’t want to be writing, calculating equations that meant nothing to him despite the fact he had them memorised. Sleep was a place to escape his harsh reality, and he felt that that was especially warranted considering what Kizakura had said to him when they met up outside the lab earlier. 

Hajime hadn’t been keen to see him, and the smug grin he’d worn when Hajime arrived only soured the mood further. He remembered exactly what Kizakura had said too: “Sorry about the little trick kiddo, but it had to be done. Look, if you’d even looked over that contract once instead of just listening to me, you wouldn’t really be in this mess, would ya? Neat play on my part, if I do say so myself. Jin wasn’t entirely set on creating a contract just to trap someone in the job, but, the way I see it, it had to be done. Anyway, I won’t be coming down every night to see you, but I’ll pop down every now and then before your shift starts, just to check up on you. Oh, and while I might have tricked you into staying on long term, we’ll be looking into finding a replacement for you, so you don’t have to spend every night here. See you later.”

Not much Hajime could do about him now though, instead, Hajime would just have to waste away in the lab until 5AM rolled around, then he could get out of here and start his sure to be awful week... but hey, he could wish that it wouldn’t be so bad, couldn’t he?

Monday, April 15th. 

His early morning wish was perhaps a little too ambitious however; and the day proceeded to be as disappointingly drab as any other. Even the class gossip was beginning to go stale. How could people who were insulting the dead lose their attitudes over a single day? Did they really care that little?

It didn’t matter though. Not today. Hajime thought about taking some kind of initiative- he would spend his lunch in the tech lab, and try to get to know the students working there. They were potential friends- something Hajime was fairly willing to admit he desperately needed. As unlikely as it seemed he’d ever be on good terms with Yasuke, and as difficult it would apparently be to hold a conversation with Miaya, as well as Miu’s general nature... Hajime was sure something could bloom. 

Something had to, he needed it to. 

So it was just his luck that he was barred from entering. I small girl had been standing outside the lab, sputtered an apology, and informed him that no one was being allowed into the tech lab today, not even the team working on the Neo World Programme. Hajime hadn’t managed to get any further details than that, so he had to simply assume that some business stuff was going on- some checks on the equipment, maybe the school board wanted to check out how things were progressing. Not that he’d ever find out...

The situation had left him deflated however. So much for making friends, or forging those ever lasting relationships. Head hung, he trudged through the Main Course building. Looking up was near enough torture. 

Friends of all kinds and calibers littered the halls. He’d passed by two boys, one of which owning perhaps the largest pompadour he’d ever seen; that same pair he’d seen leaving the head masters office on Saturday- the girl with lavender hair, and boy all in black; that tiny girl with giant blonde pig tails he’d seen with the photographer who used to come to his class at lunch, now wandering the halls with the school nurse-in-training... friends of all kinds... with so many different emotions on their faces- determination, anguish, general sadness, joy, not to mention boisterous laughter... if only he had that. Even sharing his sadness with his friends was something he couldn’t do.

Hajime was quickly shaken from his doldrums when he walked into someone. Well, that wasn’t strictly true, he’d only lightly bumped their shoulder, but he didn’t raise his head to check. All he did was mutter an, “Oh, sorry.”- which was responded to with a, “Please, do not worry about it.” before wandering off again...

Only to hit someone else. Mere seconds later. Apologising with the same little line, he was caught off guard when the same response was gently spoken to him. This prompted him to look up, and meet eyes with someone who felt vaguely familiar... something about her long blonde hair, and the way it was braided across the top of her head to align with her clover head piece, and her porcelain skin, and her regal yet delicate demeanour. Again though, he carried on walking after the apology, head back down.

This time though, as he wasn’t stuck moping, he heard a soft clacking, like heels on marble flooring. Turning his head back, he saw nothing. Odd, surely the girl from before should be... then he walked into someone else. 

A girl with long blonde hair, braided across the top of her head, with porcelain skin and a regal yet delicate demeanour. “Umm... I’m sor... ry...?”

This time the girl failed to respond, though, to Hajime, her large smile and sparkling eyes suggested something beyond her innocent appearance, or, at the very least, she has some other purpose behind bumping into him. Perhaps she wanted him to take the bait, to ask about her- if she really was the girl he’d seen in his dream, though Hajime wasn’t exactly eager to be played again, not after Kizakura and his verbal gymnastics landed Hajime his little night watch job...

For now though, the silence was beginning to irk Hajime, something about this blonde girl was getting to him, but he knew he would be the one to relent first. So he did. “Umm... is your name Sonia...?” He expected a dignified response, something befitting her regal demeanour- instead Sonia’s first response was to squeal in apparent delight and grab ahold of his wrist with both of her hands, shaking them up and down. 

“Yes indeed! And you are the new guest-to-be, Mr. Hajime Hinata!” Glad that the corridor was mostly empty, Hajime let out an exasperated sigh- he got the impression that this girl was going to be a handful, if nothing else. But before Hajime could tear himself away from her, and save the both of them potential embarrassment, Sonia leaned in close, beginning to whisper to him, and despite her friendly aura, the words felt like they carried a certain dangerous air. “It seems you have not followed through on any of the advice that was given to you Hajime, it is very clear that you haven’t been building Social Links, as I asked you to. You spent all of yesterday cooped up alone. That is no way for a young man to be spending his days.” Though Hajime certainly wanted to question how she knew about what he was doing yesterday, he was admittedly taken with how suddenly enthusiastic she became even as she distanced herself from him, still talking on the pervious subject. “You should be spending your time cavorting with your ‘good chums’ and engaging in cajolery with the ‘hot chicks’, no? Perhaps even summon a demonic beast or two with your fellow crusaders. You seem like a hip young fellow, why are you spending so much time in isolation?” Though not intended, Sonia’s words certainly left some cuts in his ego. She made him feel as if his loneliness was his own fault... perhaps it was. He had never been proactive enough with trying to make friends, and he was certainly paying that price now...

“Well, that is no matter. Come Hajime, let us make merry with some of my classmates! I’m sure they would love to get to know someone of your own caliber.” She didn’t wait for a response before once again grabbing his wrists and dragging him off. 

It occurred to Hajime that Sonia hadn’t let him get a single word in after she started to speak in earnest, which was likely fully deliberate, she left him no time to argue or turn her down. For someone so giddy, she was deceptively clever. His forced silence did allow him time for one train of thought however. Based on what she had said, and his own memories, this girl was certainly the one he was in that dream, and she remembered him as well. So, that wasn’t a dream? But if not, then what was it? He’d heard of some people sharing dreams before, but he’d assumed that was all nonsense. Maybe not? Or maybe it wasn’t a dream in the first place. 

Unfortunately, Hajime didn’t particularly have time to ponder on the logistics of dreams vs ‘reality’; Sonia had dragged him to a classroom. A classroom on the third floor. So, she’s a third year, same as him? “Now, please do not be alarmed by what you see, everyone in my class is awfully kind, and I just know you shall be able to form many bonds in this room!”

Eagerly sliding open the classroom door, Sonia gestured for Hajime to enter, whereupon he was immediately swamped by an overtly oppressive atmosphere; a type of oppression completely different to the silent judging of kids in the Reserve Course. No, this was an air of absolute sorrow and devastation.

Inside the classroom, only a small handful of students populated the sixteen desks. The small girl he’d seen a number of times before, including earlier that day, sat near enough the centre, furiously scribbling onto what Hajime could only assume was a piece of paper. Only three other students occupied the room, and, by the looks of her, the class teacher. 

The teacher was striking, to say the least. Her bright orange hair was tied back into potentially the largest ponytail he’d ever seen, at least in terms of the sheer quantity of hair that had been bunched together for it. She was adorned in what looked like a basic blue formal dress but with a frilly apron as part of the costume, definitely an odd choice for a teacher, though he supposed that it was still technically formal attire. Though even he had to admit that her outfit highlighted some of her... more prominent features. 

At the front of the class, one boy sat at a desk, another seeming to be talking at him, rather than to him. The boy sitting down had rather scraggly white hair, but there was otherwise nothing special about his appearance, he wore a very standard uniform and little else, only the red and green sweater vest distinguishing him from any other run of the mill student, although Hajime got the sense that there was something more to him. The boy doing all of the talking had blinding pink hair, mostly stuffed inside of a black beanie, strands thick and thin falling free of their confines. As he spoke, his eccentricities suddenly became clear though more avenues than just his hair and blue jumpsuit; his voice was oddly high pitched, he spoke pretty fast, and his tongue flicked over his uncomfortably pointed teeth. 

The only other person in the classroom was a short girl sat in the back of the room, her head buried in a game’s console Hajime couldn’t immediately recognise. Her short hair was a faded pink colour, nearing a grey or silver hue, and falling at the perfect length to frame her cute face.

“I am so sorry that so many of my classmates are absent. We have been experiencing a few difficulties in class as of late, and I’m afraid it has deeply affected many of my classmates.” With only four, now five counting Sonia, of the sixteen members of the class present, Hajime struggled to comprehend how so many could have been affected by anything. He of course had a hunch that these ‘difficulties’ were related to the recent deaths, though were so many people truly invested in the lives of two Reserve Course students? 

And honestly, Hajime didn’t feel like he belonged in here, for any amount of time, the feeling only amplified as he could feel most of the eyes in the room on him. The girl playing her games never looked up, and the girl in the kimono looked back down at whatever she was doing almost instantly, but the other three kept their gazes at the door. The boy in the beanie wasn’t looking at him though, he could tell that the boy’s eyes and enthusiastic smile were directed at the girl next to him. The other boy however... his easy smile had been replaced by something of a disapproving scowl, a condescending glare. It was off putting, to say the least, but a reaction Hajime had anticipated from at least one person. He was positive that the white haired boy was glaring because he was from the Reserve Course. Thankfully, the teacher was much more accommodating, her gentle smile inviting and friendly as she marched over to greet him and Sonia. 

“Sonia, I didn’t expect you to bring a stranger back into our class. As welcome as your friends are here at lunch time, I was honestly hoping you’d have brought back one of your classmates. Regardless, who might this be?” The inquiry felt entirely genuine, despite her apparent disappointment that Hajime was not someone else. 

Again, before Hajime could speak for himself, Sonia chimed in for him. “This is Hajime Hinata, he’s from the Reserve Course, and a brand new friend of mine!” Sonia seemed to always speak with enthusiasm, though he felt a touch disturbed that she was introducing him like he was one of her possessions, rather than just letting him speak for himself. “And this is Ms. Chisa Yukizome, she is the homeroom teacher our class.” For some reason, Hajime could feel the eyes of the beanie guy burning holes in him right now.

“A Reserve Course...? Oh, well, I should’ve known by the uniform, huh? It’s a pleasure to meet you Hajime. As a friend of Sonia’s, I’m sure our class will happily welcome you. Or whatever’s left of it.” Hajime highly doubted that sentiment, but he’d be remiss if he didn’t respond in a manner as equally positive. 

“Thank you for welcoming me, Ms. Yukizome, but I doubt you, or your students, will really be seeing that much of me.” Apparently returning the positivity of these two was not something he could quite maintain. 

“Really? But you’re a part of that little project for the tech department, aren’t you? I would assume we would have more cause to see you than not.” How did she know about that? Maybe it was now common knowledge to the staff, figures they’d have to know something like that, and Kisekura probably spread the info like a wildfire. 

Somehow, somewhere during their brief discussion, Sonia has snuck off, now trying (and failing) to hold a conversation with the small girl in the kimono. “Well... I don’t come by often, only at night really. And most students don’t want to associate with someone from the Reserve Course...”

“Sonia took an interest in you, didn’t she? And I’m sure the members of the tech department will learn to value you too. Don’t count yourself out before you’ve even begun young man. That’s a rookie mistake.” Her smile, and the playful wink she gave him, gave Chisa an air of childish innocence, but her words held a certain weight and wisdom to them. He wished his teachers were more like her, and he’d only know her for a few minutes. 

“... thank you, Ms. Yukizome. That’s very kind of you to say.” Somehow, just her few, simple words had managed to raise his spirits, his previous downcast attitude clearing up. 

“Chisa. Please, call me Chisa. I’ve never been one for formalities. You’re welcome here anytime Hajime, please feel free to come to our room at lunch times, we could certainly use the energy right now. For now though, it may be best to return to your own class. Lunch is almost over, and it can be quite the walk from here to the Reserve Course.”

So, as soon as he was settling down, he was being shooed off again. Although... he was leaving with something he hadn’t quite expected, an invitation to return. And that was much better than anything he could’ve hoped for previously. 

Sonia, on the other hand, was a little less pleased. Chisa had prevented the perfect moment! This was the perfect time for Hajime to start building his Social Links too. Unfortunately, that would have to wait. She had something she herself wanted to do right now, and it would be quite rude to drag Hajime back so he missed the start of afternoon classes anyway.

It was no surprise to anyone that Mahiru’s absence had affected Hiyoko, but to the degree that it had was shocking. Though not of the most positive type, Hiyoko had always been full of energy and zest, but the past few days she’d been a shell of that rude girl the class had come to know and lo... tolerate. Quiet, almost demure. It was almost as terrifying as the murders that had taken place within the school walls... one within their own classroom. Sonia herself wasn’t too keen to be in the classroom right now because of that, she fully agreed with Gundham that the spirit of the deceased girl would be prowling their room, and it’s mere presence was an affront to nature. 

“...what do you want?” Hiyoko’s voice slashed through Sonia’s thoughts, though her tone ironically lacked the usual sharp edge. 

“I was simply wondering what it is that you were doing. You seemed to be highly engrossed in the activity.”

Hiyoko was hunched over her desk, obscuring whatever it was that she was doing from view, but from the scribble sounds and the pencil in her hand, it wasn’t hard to figure out that she was writing or drawing something. Hiyoko’s eyes darted between Sonia and her folded arms a few times, before she huffed, and withdrew her defences. “Mahiru’s birthday is later this month. Just over a week away. It has to be special, she’s going to be the oldest kid in school, and everyone’s going to look up to her, and respect her, and love her...” Hiyoko’s face fell, her small curled fringe casting a small shadow upon her childish features. “A-and... if she hasn’t come out of her room... I-I’m sure this will bring her right out... sh-she’ll be so happy... h-happier than she’s ever b-be-been and...” Hiyoko’s shoulders shook. Sonia knew full well what was about to happen, and she truly pitied the girl. Hiyoko may be rather standoffish, but she has always been particularly attached to Mahiru. For things to be like they are right now must be torture for Hiyoko in a way that no one else was quite in the place to understand. 

Sonia hadn’t even heard Chiaki getting out of her seat, but she was suddenly there at Hiyoko’s side. Sonia expected nothing less of the class rep. Hiyoko hadn’t even started to bawl when Chiaki pulled one of the unused chairs over, sitting down with the tiny girl, and gently began patting her head. “It’s okay to let it out Hiyoko... you can go all out here... I think.” 

Hiyoko herself clawed at Chiaki’s jacket, her face soon buried in Chiaki’s collar, perhaps purposely to muffle her sobs. She was mumbling something, but that too was muffled into Chiaki’s collar. 

Sonia held no doubt that Chiaki had heard every word. 

Hiyoko was fragile, that much had been made clear, and yet, Sonia observed that she wasn’t the only one. Even among the limited students present, Kazuichi was staring off into space, a pained expression on his face, and Nagito watched Hiyoko with an expression of indescribable emotion, though Sonia couldn’t ignore the sadness in his eyes. Chisa too, now with Chiaki at Hiyoko’s side, had lost a little of her usual spark over the past few days, and Sonia herself found tears pricking the corners of her eyes. And the absence of the rest of the class spoke volumes of their own fragility. 

Yet, through all the pain and suffering, Chiaki smiled. Chiaki had the strength to smile. The chasm left behind in the wake of the murders had swallowed near enough their whole class, but Chiaki held strong. 

Sonia was resolute. If no one else, Hajime needed to bond with this one. If it came down to it, she needed the two of them to make this right. 

Late afternoon sunlight filtered into the medical suite through half closed blinds, decorating the cabinets of medicines in a dull orange glow. Perched upon one of the counters, Ibuki plucked at an acoustic guitar, pretending to watch Mikan as she silently paced. 

“Hey, Mikan? Remember Byakuya? Because Ibuki swears she saw a hunk that looks just like him in the class below us, but, like suuuuuuper skinny. Ibuki was thinking she could go seduce him with her awesome music. What do you think, should I win him over with ‘Trapped in a room with nothing but a brick and my pregnancy test’, or ‘I lost my wallet and now all I have is cancer and a failing liver’?”

“I-Ibuki! P-please d-don’t joke about things like that... n-now isn’t the time...” Mikan abruptly stopped her pacing, her nervous voice cracking at near every possible moment. She certainly looked worse for wear, the stress of the past few days having weighed heavily on her reflected in the bags under her eyes and her disheveled hair, more disheveled than usual anyway. 

“Aww, come on, you need to lighten up. Everyone does. A little sadness is totally normal and all, but Ibuki is also being normal. So it’s okay!”

“Sadness on the scale we’ve seen it? All of our friends are f-falling apart!”

“...”

“...”

“Did you... hear about Hiyoko?”

Mikan slowly nodded her head. “Y-yes... Sh-she’s taking everything a lot worse than I thought she would. It’s natural to worry for Mahiru, especially normal for her, but I’m honestly more worried about Hiyoko than anyone else right now...”

“Why? Ibuki thought it was normal for someone like Hiyoko to worry about her best friend that much.”

“Maybe... but I think it’s more than that. Mahiru means a lot to Hiyoko, and after a conversation we had a little while ago... I th-think she’s scared of losing her. Scared that she’ll change...” Mikan had begun fiddling with a syringe while she spoke. The conversation topic was only unnerving her even more. 

“Hiyoko spoke to you? What did she say? Something scandalous?” Ibuki’s playful jibes were losing most of their humour, her delivery lacked any of its usual flair. Now, she was just saying things like that for the sake of it. No, that was a lie, but Mikan was starting to take them that way. 

“Ummm... Well... She was trying to get me to help her with Mahiru... B-but... sh-she was talking about Mahiru harming herself... or... worse...”

Ibuki didn’t have a quip for that. “I guess it’s possible, but I’ve never thought Mahiru the type. What do you...” Ibuki spent a few seconds studying Mikan’s face, trying to pick apart what she was thinking. “Do you think Hiyoko might be, uh, you know,” She dragged a black fingernail over her wrist a few times, “And it was like a cry for help?” 

And when Mikan failed to respond Ibuki shrank back, leaning against the wall behind her. “Maaaaaaaaaaaaaan, why’s life gotta be so complicated. Can’t they just make out and it’ll all be better again? Love is the best medicine, right? Pretty sure Gandhi said that.” Mikan didn’t have to look at Ibuki to know the stupid face she was pulling.

Mikan couldn’t find the will to justify that comment with a response. “Mahiru does need to get better, and fast too. But she just isn’t ready yet. And unfortunately, none of us can go prodding at her right now, it wouldn’t be right. And yet, without her, Hiyoko’s mental health is going to keep on getting worse and worse. I-it’s such a difficult balancing act... but we have to be the ones to balance it.”

“Ooooooooo, did Ibuki just get to see a rare assertive Mikan? Wow, so strong, so maternal, so sexy!” Ibuki waved her arms around her head, placing the back of one of her hands on her forehead, and kicking up a leg to punctuate her exaggerated swooning. 

Mikan found it tricky to determine where Ibuki was joking and where she was being genuine, but she began to bumble at her words nonetheless. “I-Ibuki, p-please don’t tease me like that... i-it’s not g-good for my heart...”

Sliding off the counter, Ibuki deftly crept over to Mikan, a coy hand wrapping around her waist. “Is Ibuki making your heart throb?” Giggling her mischievous giggle, Ibuki placed her head on Mikan’s shoulder, lightly tapping her jaw with the top of her head. 

Playing with her apron, Mikan only let out a small whine, which Ibuki took as consent to let her fingers snake slightly higher up Mikan’s body. “P-please Ibuki... n-not here...”

“Would the lady like to do it elsewhere then?” Another mischievous chuckle tickled Mikan’s ear after Ibuki dropped her faux-royal tone. “How about me, you, and Byakuya? Wanna join me in my serenading? With your bod, and my sweet guitar skills, what human could possibly resist such a winning combo?”

“I’d r-rather... I’d rather we didn’t Ibuki...” Mikan was fidgeting in Ibuki’s grasp, but wasn’t making any particular effort to escape her either, if anything, it seemed as if she was leaning ever closer to the teasing musician. 

“Would you rather just go on a hot date with Ibuki then?” While far from a seductive whisper, Mikan could feel Ibuki’s hot breath on her neck, an act that was no doubt deliberate and fairly predictable for her, yet sent shivers coursing through Mikan’s body regardless. 

“I-if those were my only options, then, f-frankly, y-yes... I don’t think I’d like to sh-share...”

“Ooohoohoohoo, what a greedy girl you are Mikan. But I guess my afternoon snack is settled then.” Ibuki lightly nippled at Mikan’s neck, her unfortunate habit of biting things only heating things further, on Mikan’s end at least. 

Ibuki’s gesture was reciprocated with a squeal, though what emotion it carried was alien to Ibuki. If she were to hazard a guess, it would be somewhere between very surprised and slightly aroused. Or perhaps that was just her playful nature causing her imagination to fly off the handle. “C’mon, we’ve got a hot date to go on together.”

“Wh-what? N-no, Ibuki, I c-can’t, we c-can’t, I shouldn’t be-“

Ibuki shushed her with a finger pressed against her lips. “You need to relax a bit Mikan. Ibuki just wants to hang out, you know, like we used to do. Can you do that for Ibu- me? Can you do that for me?” Her teasing ceased, and she’d spun Mikan around to face her, her playful smirk now a friendly grin. 

Mikan’s fingers found Ibuki’s, tentatively lacing them together, a smile of her own greeting Ibuki. “Th-things have been very stressful... I-I think I would like that... b-b-but we are just g-going to hang out, r-right?” Mikan’s nervous grip tightened around Ibuki’s hands, both pairs turning an unhealthy white. 

“Oww! Uh, yeah, it’ll just be me and you, Ibuki and Mikan, hanging out like the best buds we are.” Ibuki flinched at the grip, but the moment would probably be ruined if she ripped her hands away now. 

Mikan dropped her hands almost immediately, worry clouding her face once again. “Oh, I-I’m sorry! D-did I hurt you?” In a repetitive dance of hands, Mikan again grabbed ahold of Ibuki’s hands, then let them go in fear of hurting them again, only to grasp them once more when she realised she just needed to be more gentle. But her rare smile soon spread over her lips, a whisper she hoped would go unheard slipping through. “... I like you best when you’re looking out for me...” A selfish whisper, but one she felt like needed to verbalise at least once. She hoped her red face didn’t give anything away though. It’s nice to be taken care of for once, even if Ibuki was just as clumsy as she was sometimes. 

“It’s absolute fuckin’ dick shit! I mean, who the fuck does he think he is, stopping me from working on my reason for living!”

Chihiro had been listening to Miu complain about being barred from the tech room since he’d accidentally bumped into her at lunch. She’d not left him alone after that, she’d even followed him into his own classroom and sat whining about it all afternoon. At least she’d taken him out after school, but he still apparently hadn’t heard all of what Miu had to say in the matter. He tried to focus on the fruit smoothie she’d bought him, but staring into a pink cup only delivered so much. “Miu, I’m sure the committee had their reasons. I hate leaving it too, even for a day, but... isn’t it nice to also have a break?”

The disgusted face Miu made told Chihiro that she didn’t agree. “What? Fuck that noise! I need those machines soooooo bad! But were you even listening to me? I was talking about Yasuke, not those wind bags on the committee. Yasuke, him and his stupid wavy pube hair, and his stupid... stupidness!”

Chihiro had heard this a million times before. Miu always complained to him about Yasuke. She hated his guts, that was for certain, but he wasn’t too sure why. “I-it wasn’t his fault that the committee told us to stop for today. He just happened to be the first to know, a-and then told us...”

Now grumbling to herself, Chihiro took a little solace in that Miu had stopped, though he knew she’d be back at it again soon. Although, if he took control of the conversation... “Uh, Miu? Why did you take me out today?” He begged she’d take the bait and drop her asinine accusations towards Yasuke and a group of people she didn’t even know. 

“Why? ‘Cause you’re a fellow techie, duh, dip shit! You have a shred of my respect because we share a love of tech. Plus...” Miu’s face dropped slightly, and she began to finger the clump of her hair that fell between her eyes. From Chihiro’s experience, it was rare to see Miu even remotely vulnerable at any time other than when she was being berated. “Plus none of the girls in my class wanna hang out with me... guess they think I’m too gross...” Miu suddenly locked eyes with Chihiro, and straightened in her chair. “Uhhhh... actually, I bet it’s because they’re all jealous of me. Beauty and brains? I was gifted the full package! I bet you’re jealous too, right shrimplet?” He was almost impressed with how quickly Miu jumped back. Though it was nice to hear that Miu actually wanted them to be friends. 

There was one problem though, a pretty huge one, as far as Chihiro was concerned. Miu seemed to have no inclination as to his gender. Normally he wouldn’t expect anyone to know, but Miu had a way of sniffing out men. Or so he thought. And he had a feeling Miu only wanted his friendship so long as he was the ‘small and cute’ type of girl he pretended to be, to act as something like a counterpart to her bombastic energy and her... looks. 

But he wasn’t clean of wanting friendship purely for his own gain. He did want Miu’s friendship, true, but he also wanted what she could offer him. Though it wasn’t like she was willingly going to provide him with things. 

In his mind, Miu could help him in a similar way Mondo could. Though, whereas Mondo helped him to feel more manly, Miu could teach him a little about how to be more assertive. While yes she would always crumble under any retaliation, Miu held a certain self confidence that even Mondo lacked, and it was something Chihiro wanted to harness for himself. 

And if he was being honest with himself, being alone with a girl like Miu made him feel quite manly as well. Even if she didn’t know he was a boy. 

“Hey, bitchlet, I’m talkin’ at you! Jeez, you’d think you didn’t even want a babe like me as your number one! Fuck bike boy and stick-up-his-ass, they can ride off into whatever homo sunset they want to, I’m gonna take you far, and that’s a promise from the gorgeous girl genius, Miu Iru-“

“Thank you for the treat Miu, but I think I best be going back to the dorms now. I have homework to do, and some more code I need to write for the NWP.” He thought it best to cut short their little talk. As much as he did want to be friends with Miu, she could grate, even on him. That and the fact that his feet couldn’t touch the floor from their chairs felt humiliating to no end. 

Although apparently Miu had other plans. He fully expected her to let him leave, too flustered in that way only Miu can be, left too speechless to actually do anything. “Ah, hey, wait, don’t leave me! I mean, uhhh...” He didn’t really want to watch Miu fumble around like a suffocating fish, and he hoped he wouldn’t regret what he was about to say.

“I-if you’d like, do you want to go back together? That’s what f-friends do, isn’t it?”

The way Miu’s eyes lit up told him he said the right thing. Thank goodness, social situations that ended with someone being sad because of him never sat well. “Really? C’mon then titless, let’s get goin’.” She slung an arm around Chihiro’s shoulders, a clumsy way of showing her slight affection, but at least she was trying. 

At the very least it was enough to bring a smile to Chihiro’s face, and a little warmth to his heart. 

A warmth he hoped he’d given back to Miu when he hugged her outside the dorms. 

As night fell, Hajime quietly grumbled to himself as he plodded down the halls to the tech department, several books and the room key in hand. 

Kisekura hadn’t shown up to greet him today. Instead, all he’d had was the gruff security guy. Juzo, he was pretty sure his name was. It was probably a tactical decision on Kisekura’s part- both him and Hajime knew he wouldn’t cause a scene with Juzo. 

Hajime wasn’t sure if he was glad or not that he already knew where the tech department room was, but even so, Hope’s Peak’s halls were incredibly eerie at night. There was nothing inherently creepy about them in design, but the lack of electrical lighting certainly helped; having the light of the moon be his only source of vision was unnerving, almost foreboding. It made him uncomfortable. All he needed was a storm, or heavy rain, then the scene would be set perfectly for disaster, wouldn’t it?

But soon enough he was safely within the tech room, the lights of the monitors a welcome glow compared to the rest of the schools awful lighting. 

The first thing he noticed was the pile of clothes on Miu’s work bench. It was petty to hold that against her, it’s not like she knew he used her work bench to sleep on, but it was still a slight inconvenience. He’d have to move them. Hopefully Miu hadn’t made a habit of leaving her unmentionables behind after school. 

Dropping his books and key on Chihiro’s chair, he made his way over to her work bench. From what he could see, he now wasn’t so sure those clothes even belonged to Miu. She struck him as the type to wear bright and colourful clothing in her free time, if the bright orange ribbon she wore to school was any indication. But what was on the table was comprised of exclusively dark, and drab colours. Browns, blacks, dark blues. A red scarf took his notice though. The one spec of colour amongst the depressing mound. Still, not something he imagined Miu wearing. Although, April nights could be cruel when they wanted to be. Maybe she liked to wear woollens to bed?

Trying not to imagine that, Hajime instead forced himself to think about the scarf some more. Partially because he kind of wanted to wrap up in it tonight, and also because it felt vaguely familiar. Had he seen one like it recently?

Reaching Miu’s bench, the pile was actually a lot bigger than he thought it was. Too big to just scoop up in one arm swing, and he didn’t particularly want to cart this pile around when he woke up later. With a quick apology to Miu’s belongings, he decided he would just shove them onto the floor, off the bench. Granted they’d be finding a temporary home on the floor, a floor he wasn’t sure was ever washed, but that’s on Miu for leaving her clothes in school over night. 

He reached for the scarf first. He didn’t want to have to untangle it from the pile later, and yes he kind of might have sorta wanted to wear it- it was a cold night. As he ran his fingers over the soft fabric he realised it was warm. Oddly warm. In fact, the whole pile was. Hajime couldn’t complain though, a little extra warmth never hurt anyone, so after wrapping the scarf around his neck, he returned his attention to the pile. 

Hajime felt his rear collide with the floor, a shrill scream he didn’t know he was capable of making blasted through the room. 

From in the bundle or clothes, two cold blue, unblinking eyes bore holes into his, as if purposely positioned to lock eyes with him. Dry blood caked the lips of a mouth left hanging open. Skin, paling by the second, glistened with a sheen of sweat, droplets running harmlessly over eyes that would never move again. 

The last thing Hajime remembered before passing out was the sound of the door crashing open, and his final glimpses of the corpse of Miaya Gekkogahara.


	11. Chapter 9

Tuesday, April 16th

Never in his life had Hajime felt so tense just sitting at a table. To be fair though, it’s not as if he was just sitting at any old table for any old reason. 

After last night, he wasn’t entirely sure what had happened. He’d woken up this morning in the school infirmary, the nurse in training fretting over him as she did with anyone who ended up in there. He was acutely aware that students from all over the school visited the place just for her- very few people from the Reserve Course had a means of even getting hurt, but he could certainly see the appeal of having a clumsy nurse attending to your every need. Not that he could exactly enjoy anything of the sort with the previous night still on his mind. 

The nurse had also told him that there were some people who wanted to talk to him about what he’d seen, and that’s what led him to be sat in a room in the Main Course that exuded finality. Apparently the room didn’t have a specific name, but in his opinion it may as well have just been called the interrogation room. 

Just across from him were two students he’d seen a couple of times over the past few days. He now knew them to be Kyoko Kirigiri and Shuichi Saihara, two Ultimate Detectives, though it struck him as odd that the school was home to two of them, especially two years in a row. But here they were, the two people Kizakura had told him to find. If only he’d talked to them yesterday when he’d seen them in the corridor, asking them questions in here didn’t seem like it would turn out his favour.

Before the interrogation had even begun, he could feel Kyoko analysing him silently. Her cold, distant expression was certainly off putting, and radiated experience. Next to her, however, was a mere shadow of her authority. Shuichi was staring down at the table, his fingers gripping a pen and notepad. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that he was a rookie, but with Kyoko, Hajime had a feeling she wouldn’t need the backup. 

“We are aware of most of the situation surrounding the death of Ms Gekkogahara, all we need from you is your testimony. What did you see last night? We are also aware that you have been seen in the Main Course as of Saturday. Did you happen to see anything during your time here that you found in any way odd?” Her words were poignant and straightforward, they chilled Hajime to his core considering they were coming from a girl roughly the same age as him. 

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Hajime couldn’t tell them anything they didn’t already know. The only thing that seemed to be new to them was that Miaya was still warm when he found her. The only other thing he could think of relating to her was that empty notebook, but that couldn’t possibly be relevant- it was empty... that and he didn’t want to mention to detectives that he’d stolen from a girl found dead. However...

“If you don’t mind, there was something I’d like to ask you two as well. Mr. Kizakura told me to ask you two about the Neo World Programme... uh, do you know anything about it?” The detective duo shared a quick glance, with Kyoko soon resuming the initiative. 

“Sorry, but have a feeling I know just as much about it as you. The whole project is a closely guarded secret I’m afraid, only those directly involved know anything about it, and they’ve all sworn to secrecy. You would be better off asking one of the members yourself.”

It wasn’t long after that that Hajime was shooed out of the room. He’d gotten no information from them about the Neo World Programme, and while he was thankful that the interrogation was actually quite brief, he knew full well that he wouldn’t be able to go through the day with a sound mind. Whenever he closed his eyes, he could still see her lifeless ones piercing his very soul, still picture the specs of blood coating her lips...

“Kyoko... This doesn’t seem to add up.” Shuichi’s nervous tapping of pen on paper was the only noise preventing silence from overtaking the room. 

“I know. A body that yet again poses more questions than answers. But I do have to wonder,” Kyoko repeatedly ran a gloved finger over the tip of her chin. “I believe this murder was a distraction. From one of the other cases, that is.”

Shuichi had a feeling he knew what Kyoko meant. There were things he’d noticed too. “D-do you mean about her injuries? From a basic examination, it would be easy to assume that her twisted neck was the cause of death, but that wouldn’t result in coughing up blood. The death should be instantaneous in that case...”

Kyoko nodded, her hand still against her chin. “Correct. But that’s not all. The location of the body is also suspect.”

“Miu’s work bench?”

“I assume that would be your answer because, to the world at large, that would likely act as fairly conclusive evidence. Placing the body in her work area would cause many to assume that Miu was responsible, or that she had a part to play in the murder. Helping that is the fact that there have been no altercations regarding the project until Miu began to work on it. But no, that doesn’t make any sense, Miu lacks the opportunity to kill. One of my classmates has already provided a decent alibi... or so I thought...”

“...is the fact that her body was warm concerning you?”

Kyoko silently nodded. “The forensic team hasn’t given me a time of death yet. But Hajime’s testimony implies that Miaya was killed not long before he arrived that night. And suddenly everyone becomes a suspect again because of that. However...”

Shuichi glanced up from the table, an eyebrow raised questioningly. “There’s more...?” He was ashamed to admit that he hadn’t picked up on half of the things Kyoko had. Sure, he wasn’t a homicide specialist like her, but he was still a detective. And he wanted, no, needed, to prove himself to her. 

“When I was talking of the placement of the body, I was referring to the room it was placed in. Unlike with Sato, this crime scene was disguised rather well.”

It was? Shuichi couldn’t agree less with that sentiment, perhaps Kyoko meant it in a that he hadn’t figured out yet. 

“In my opinion, this seems to be sabotage. Sabotage of the Neo World project. Choosing one of the designers as a victim? Putting her in a room everyone in school knows is used near daily? Whoever killed her knew she would be found easily. And considering when she must’ve been put there... our culprit may have been trying to scare off our new security detail. Just because Miaya was warm does not mean she was killed just before her discovery, there are just as many ways to keep a body warm as keeping one cool. And you heard what Hajime said, didn’t you? He said that the blood on her lips was dry...” The self assured, near smug smirk that Kyoko pulled whenever she’d made a leap forward in a case presented itself once more to Shuichi. In a way, it was sort of unsettling. 

“So this is all a set up? But why? Wh-what does that accomplish? Surely the only ones who would care to sabotage the project are either working on it, or funding it, since no one else knows anything about it. And they obviously wouldn’t gain anything by sabotaging themselves.”

Kyoko cocked her head towards Shuichi, her smirk not faltering. “Normally, I’d agree with you. But the project has been something I’ve wanted to look into for as long as I’ve known of it. Certain circumstances probably won’t allow us access to the tech lab legitimately, but I have an idea for that in the mean time.”

Shuichi’s grip on his pen tightened. “So, you want to use the fall guy again?”

That soured Kyoko’s expression. “Makoto is not a fall guy. I only want him involved in places we can’t be. Is that clear?” Despite talking as she usually does, there was an underlying severity to her words, an edge that told Shuichi to drop the subject. Still...

“That’s what he is though, isn’t he? If he gets caught, you trust him to side with you and hide the truth of what he was doing in the school and whatever he finds out, right? He gets punished, we can still investigate. Why can’t you just rely on-“ The clacking of Kyoko’s boots on the floor cut him off. As did the closing of the door. “me...” Shuichi sighed. A self-pitying sigh. 

Ibuki and Hiyoko had been spending a lot of their free time just hanging around in the infirmary, and they were really just getting in the way, but Mikan didn’t have the heart to tell them to leave. They weren’t useless, they... they could pass her stuff... and help to ‘entertain’ some patients... yeah, that. 

“Piiiiiiiiig shiiiiiiiit!” Hiyoko whined one of her many ‘nicknames’ for Mikan in a way that would perhaps be annoying to anyone else, but for Mikan, just the validation of someone talking to her was enough to make it all okay. “Why are we still hanging out in here? No one needs your help, all you’ve done is put some plasters on cuts that aren’t even there. So many pervs come in here, this place must have so many diseases in the air.”

“What?! Is Ibuki gunna catch perv-itis?” Ibuki’s shrill screech echoed in the infirmary. The smile plastered on her face must’ve meant she did it on purpose. 

“Shut up, you’re already a disgusting perv. I’m just afraid for my own health in here.”

“But you’re still here, ain’t ‘cha? Yoo jus wanna hang out wiv your bwest fwends, don’t chu?” Ibuki smiled as she tugged on Hiyoko’s cheeks, using a mocking tone Mikan would’ve expected to come from Hiyoko more than Ibuki. She hoped Hiyoko wasn’t rubbing off on Ibuki. But Mikan was happy to see two of her friends acting normally. It seemed like a rarity now. It was a small comfort to her, and it was certainly the real reason she wanted the two of them to stay with her whenever they could. 

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” That raspy voice had been silent since he’d arrived. All while Hiyoko had hurled abuse around, Mikan had been attending to her most regular patient, Nagito Komaeda. Thankfully, all he needed this time was some disinfectant and bandages. “The love those two share, their unfiltered friendship, it’s truly beautiful. It fills me with a hope, hope that maybe even I’ll find someone like that one day.”

“D-don’t say that. I-I’m sure one day you’ll have...” Mikan peered over her shoulder. Actually, did anyone really want or need a Hiyoko or Ibuki in their lives? “One day you’ll have someone just like that. In fact, y-you’re probably a-already sp-special to at least one person.” 

Nagito’s dry laugh that followed said that he disagreed. He didn’t speak after that, his gaze fixed on the two girls goofing around, an easy smile on his face. In the few years she’d known him, Mikan had always found Nagito fascinating. From a medical stand point, of course. Last year, she’d even decided to take on the role of his ‘personal’ nurse. She thought it would help him to have what medical supplies he needs on hand at all times, and, to be honest, she really liked being genuinely relied on for once. 

The way Nagito peered up at her through his mess of hair cut her thought process off immediately. “I-I’m sorry!” Mikan instinctively flinched back, and slipped over... something. Loud crashes echoed throughout even the halls outside of the room, followed distinctly by Mikan’s famous whine of shame and Hiyoko’s screams of annoyance.

“Hyyyyyaaaaa! Hiiiiiiiiiyyyyyyaaaaa!”

“Woooooo! You go Tenko!” Angie’s playful voice only pushed Tenko to clobber the training dummy harder, her sweat starting to blur her vision. 

Panting, Tenko finally relented from her merciless assault of the wooden dummy. And with her hands on her knees, bent forward, she hadn’t noticed that Angie had crept up on her. She did notice the towel being placed on her head though. 

“Aww, Tenko, you’re keikogi is all wet now! You better make sure to clean those clothes of yours, Atua always says that a stinky uniform makes for an equally smelly battle performance.” There is no way in hell any god has ever said that, but Tenko was too tired to vocalise that thought. Instead, she took the towel from her head and patted down her face.

“Ugh, I can’t believe you were the one who came down today. I would’ve done so much better if Himiko was watching me instead of you.” Angie didn’t seem to pick up on any of the hints Tenko was giving her, the girl simply smiling and rocking back and forth on her heels.

“Nya ha ha ha! Sorry Tenko, but you know Himiko, she tired easily. She already went back to her dorm. But anyway, what did you think of my cheering performance? Did I inspire you like Atua inspires me?”

While Tenko did have go confess having someone cheering you on was nice, her pride forbade her go admit that to Angie of all people. “Yeah yeah, whatever. To be honest I would preferred if your method of helping me involved getting on the mat and battling me yourself, but I guess your cheers were good enough.”

Angie clapped her hands, giving Tenko a cheery thumbs up. “Thank you Tenko! But you know, I think you could stand to be a little more friendly. Maybe if you weren’t as standoffish Himiko would like you better. But I suppose your natural ferocity is a part of your charm.” Tenko was glad for how hot her workout had made her, it meant that her angry blush wouldn’t be as obvious on her already flush face. 

The worst part was, Angie was probably right. She knew deep down that Himiko didn’t return her affections, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t love the mage with all her heart. But Angie was busy over here slicing it in two instead. “Sh-shut up Angie. What do you know about Himiko anyway. I’m her best friend, I know way more about her than you do.”

Angie simply shook her head. “No no no, you don’t get it Tenko. I’m trying to be friendly. Atua wants everyone to get along, so I’m trying to give you good love advice.” Angie put a finger to her lip, and began staring off into space. “Buuuuuut, I think what matters to you more is that I think Himiko would like it if her best friends were to also become best friends. So? What do you say? Can I come by to see you more?”

If any other girl were saying that, Tenko’s heart might have just exploded. But no, Angie said it. Still... if it was all for Himiko’s benefit... it couldn’t be bad to play nice with Angie. “Ugh, fine. I’m practising here most days after school, and sometimes at lunch. You can come by and give me your support, I guess.”

Again, Angie clapped her hands together. “Ah, goodie! Maybe now you’ll be less lonely Tenko. Now go change, and I’ll eagerly wait for my new best friend at the entrance hall. That sound good?” Angie began to sway from side to side again, and it was hard to say no to that beaming smile...

But Tenko hated the fact that Angie could analyse her so well. 

It was stupid, ridiculous, moronic, just... just... just absolute bullshit! 

Hajime wasn’t sure how to balance his seething anger with his intense paranoia. After school, he’d asked the headmaster if he could take a day off, take a small break, just for the day. But noooooo, of course he had to stay on his dumbass guard duty, in this dumbass room, with his dumbass memory of last night... April 17th couldn’t come sooner. 

Whilst on duty, Hajime had never stayed awake this long. Till midnight. But he couldn’t sleep. Not in here. Not anymore. Not on Miu’s work bench. 

In a desperate bid to rid his anxiety muddled mind of disturbed thoughts, Hajime focused on his anger, focused on what the headmaster had told him. Though, in said rage, it was blurry. In a way, it didn’t really matter what he’d said, it was just the result of it. Something dumb about how he really wanted someone in here tonight specifically. Why did it have to be him? Oh, right, because he was a Reserve student and was thus expendable.

Grumbling, Hajime lost track of time. Not to say he wasn’t deliberately trying to, but he managed it. His emotionally drained body was shutting itself down, slowly. 

Just as he could feel his eyelids forcibly closing themselves, and his head was drooping down, the rattle of the door knob paralysed him. 

All traces of fear clumped together in that moment, swarming him, forcing his eyes open all while making his body feel heavier than ever before. 

The rattling wasn’t aggressive, far from it, but the thought of who would be on the other side was more than enough to terrify Hajime. The thought of his own death was sickening, bile rising in his throat. Teeth clenched, and heavy breathed, he slowly rose from his seat, creeping backwards.

But his efforts would appear fruitless. The door swung open. 

And swung closed just as quickly as a small boy tumbled into the room. A boy Hajime recognised. 

Their eyes met for a few moments, the same look of shock and fear mixed together in one horror filled stare off. Hajime opened his mouth as if to scream, while the other boy stumbled to his feet, an accusatory finger thrust out towards Hajime. 

“What are you doing here? Kyoko said no one was supposed to be here tonight.”

“What, did Kyoko send you here?” Both of their voices were laced with fear, and accusatory apprehension. 

Hajime’s fears lessened the more he looked the boy over. There was just something about him that made Hajime feel at ease. Just like he did when they’d bumped into each other a few days ago. “Makoto. That’s your name, right? Are you here for an... investigation?” If Kyoko sent him, that seemed most likely. Kyoko came across as the type to not mess around. At all. So he couldn’t imagine she was daring or pranking him. 

Makoto noticeably hesitated, but soon walked towards Hajime, most of his own fears having been allayed as well. “Yeah... you could say that. But Kyoko said that you wouldn’t be here tonight. Headmaster Kirigiri told her-“ 

“Wait. The headmaster told her I wouldn’t be here? But he was the one who directly told me...”

Makoto’s head tilted in a way not too dissimilar to a curious puppy. There was that odd charm of his again. Hajime couldn’t help but elaborate. “The headmaster told me that he needed me here tonight. Specifically tonight.”

“Huh... what, do you think he purposely wanted to try and catch Kyoko snooping around in here?” Those pieces didn’t quite fit together for Hajime. If that story were all true, logic tracks that Kyoko would want to investigate the scene of Miaya’s murder, but the headmaster wanted to stop her? Or at least catch her in the act. But why? If that were the case, it failed regardless, because he’d found Makoto, not Kyoko. But that couldn’t be true. Could it...?

Hajime hadn’t even noticed that Makoto had walked right past him. Right over to the giant screen slapped in the middle of the room. “I’ve been curious about what this thing is. At first I’d thought it was just another computer, but is this supposed to be the big project that Chihiro has been working on? Gotta say, I’m a bit disappointed.” Funny, Makoto was talking like he’d been in here before. But that couldn’t be right, could it? Kyoko has told him that no one knows anything about this place unless they’re on the project...

“Hey, don’t touch that!” Hajime ran over to him, slapping Makoto’s curious hand from the screen. 

“Oww... sorry.” Makoto clenched his right hand, rubbing it in his shirt. 

“Come on, this is a technically a crime scene, you can’t go leaving your finger prints all over it... just...” Hajime wiped his sleeve over the where Makoto had touched it, he wasn’t sure why he was bothering to do it, but he felt inclined. 

“What? But isn’t that all you do at this job? Leave your... mark... here...” Hajime had seen exactly the same thing Makoto had, and the pair understandably both grew very pale. 

A ripple carried across the giant screen, Hajime’s arm somehow submerged in the screen. Hajime let out a startled yelp, and fell back, the ripples slowly disappearing. “Wh... what the hell...?” His throat gasped for air, but he quickly shot up, turning to Makoto in order to check that he was still in reality and hadn’t just started a drug trip. 

In a hurried stumble Makoto ran towards Hajime, fear and concern written across his face. And then time slowed down.

You know, how it does when the smallest thing is about to change a life forever. All because of a stupid shoe. 

It was all down to bad luck really, Makoto’s shoe lace just so happened to be untied in that moment, and he just so happened to be running forward. He also just so happened to step on that untied lace, and also just so happened to stumble forward the rest of the way. 

Until of course his head crashed into Hajime’s chest, sending the pair hurtling backwards. That was the last thing Hajime remembered before passing out for the second night in a row.


	12. Chapter 10

“Hey... Hey are you okay...? Hey...”

Hajime struck out his arm to swat the obnoxious alarm, but as he did, the ground around him shifted. 

What?

A dull ache spread over his body as soon as he regained consciousness, but the gentle breeze and calm lapping of waves could at least calm his mind. 

Wait, what?

Despite the pain, Hajime shot up from where he had been laying. Well, kind of, it was tricky to stand up so fast when he was lying in sand. Frantically, he began turning around. Where the hell was he? He was standing in sand, there were palm trees around him, the... the ocean was right behind him...

“W-where am I...? How did I get here? Wh-where’s the lab?!”

“You’re on Jabberwock Island of course!”

Hajime quickly zipped back around to face the direction that voice came from; despite the heat, a cold sweat beaded on his neck and forehead. But... he couldn’t see the owner of that voice.

“Hey! I’m down here!” Hajime looked to his feet, and that was where he found the owner of the sickly sweet, high pitched voice. It was a white rabbit. A bipedal rabbit. Dressed as a magical girl?

Hajime stumbled back, soon finding himself back in the sand. “Wh-what the hell?! What... who... where...” Hajime could feel that he was overheating, both from the blazing heat of the sun and from the stress he was creating thanks to wherever he was. Was he hallucinating or something? Because he was talking to a talking, cosplaying, bipedal rabbit...

“Ah! Please, calm down! My name is Usami! Magical Miracle Girl Usami! It’s a pleasure to meet you. And as I said, you’re on Jabberwock Island. But tell me, what’s your name?”

He was dreaming, right? He had to be. That or he was dead and this is what heaven looks like. 

Wait... where’s Makoto? Had he already woken up? Maybe he had just woken up somewhere else? Maybe this Usami knew? Asking it wouldn’t be the craziest part of this scenario. 

“My name is Hajime... but more importantly, have you seen someone else around here recently? Boy, shorter than me, wearing a green-ish hoodie.”

The rabbit looked quite solemn as it brought one of its ‘hands’ to its face. “Hmm... sorry, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone matching that description here before. But if you two are part of the same event, he must be close by!” Hajime wasn’t sure what ‘event’ Usami was talking about, but when she began walking away he felt compelled to follow her. 

“So... this might sound weird, but am I alive right now? I have no idea how I got here, or why-“ The memory of him and Makoto falling into the Neo World Programme suddenly flashed back into his mind. No way. Was he... inside of the Neo World Programme?

Usami promptly spun to face him, but somehow kept on walking in the same direction she had been before she turned to look at Hajime. She must be very familiar with this place. “That’s quite an existential question, and I’m not sure how to answer it. But I think you are indeed alive and well. As must be your friend.” She seemed confident, despite her ignorance. For now, Hajime just needed to find Makoto, then they could get out of here, and forget any of this ever happened. Or better yet, he’d wake up back in his dorm and realise that the past few days had all been a fever induced nightmare. 

Soon enough, Usami had led him to a bridge. A very long, very large bridge. And as they were crossing, Hajime couldn’t help but soak in his surroundings. Wherever he was, it was actually very nice, somewhere he probably would’ve liked to go on a holiday. From what he could see, there were a couple of islands surrounding a central one, and that was where Usami was taking him. 

These islands truly did look breathtaking; the lush greenery, the bright blue skies, not to mention the cool sea breeze that would never seem to be out of reach. But Hajime’s day dreams were suddenly cut short when Usami stopped walking. 

“I think your friend will be here. Uh, I hope so anyway. It always felt like the most appropriate place for a meeting like this...” Usami pointed towards a path that looked as if it would lead to the centre of the island that they were on. The centre of a central island? At the very least he couldn’t entirely fault Usami’s logic on that gut feeling. Didn’t make it any less of a gut feeling though. 

There wasn’t an awful lot actually in the centre of the island, perhaps odd for a place that was apparently a park, if he signs were to be believed. But there didn’t really have to be. The giant statue depicting a myriad of different animals was really all the park needed. But lo and behold, standing in front of said statue, looking up at it in what Hajime imagined was either intrigue or awe, was Makoto. 

A cold breeze blew against Hajime’s back as he walked towards Makoto, one quite different from the sea breeze he’d felt on his journey over, but he assumed it must’ve just been because he was now surrounded by trees that it felt any different. But the look of fear and confusion on Makoto’s face when he turned around made Hajime realise that his innocent assumption had been way off.

“H-Hajime... why are you...?” Makoto’s voice was shaky, and he’d completely backed up against the statue. Both Hajime and Usami turned to see what Makoto was so afraid of, both of them jumping back as soon as they did. 

Behind them was... Hajime. But he was different. Subtly different, but different. Hajime didn’t have bad posture normally, but this doppelgänger stood so proudly that it put most people to shame, with its chest puffed, posture perfect, and its arms folded behind its back. The lookalike was frowning, glaring even, which only made its luminous yellow eyes that much more imposing. 

“What are you doing, seeking out that... thing?” The voice of the doppelgänger had a natural echo, which again only made it more unsettling. Hajime and Usami had been slowly creeping backwards, towards Makoto and the statue, but now the double was striding forwards too. 

“‘Thing’? W-what are you talking about?” Hajime’s voice cracked. He wanted to stand strong, he wanted to face whatever that thing was head on... but he was scared.

The other Hajime pointed directly at Makoto, who would’ve certainly turned invisible in that moment if he could. “Him. That thing. Why are you helping Ultimate trash like him? All Ultimates have ever done is cause you pain and suffering. Are they not the ones to make you feel insecure about your normalcy? What about the past few days? Hasn’t it been Ultimates who have been pushing you around? Foisting responsibilities that should be theirs onto you? Stop lying to yourself, you don’t revere these people anymore. You deserve so much better than what you’ve received up till now.”

Both Usami and Makoto looked to Hajime. He had started to breathe heavily, a cold sweat beading down his back and forehead, worsened only by the natural heat of the island. What was he supposed to say to that? He didn’t feel that way at all. Well... not entirely... right? “N-no... I don’t... I’ve never thought that! Besides, you can’t claim to know how I feel, what even are you?”

The double smirked, a dark red sludge beginning to splash at its feet. “Why, of course I know how you feel. I am you. But it’s fine if you don’t want to admit your feelings to that scum yourself, that’s why I’m hear. Just watch instead whilst I crush him to dust!”

A strong gust of wind erupted from the doppelgänger before anyone else could say anything, pushing all three back. But Hajime didn’t have time to check on either Makoto or Usami, because he felt his skull colliding with the base of the statue behind him, and his vision went black. 

Hajime’s eyes slowly fluttered open, an unnatural blue light piercing his eyelids. 

He was back, sitting at a desk he’d sat at once before, and greeted again by Sonia’s pleasant smile. 

“It’s time Hajime. Soon, you’ll be a full fledged guest of the Velvet Room. We expect great things from you.”

Hajime’s head felt heavy, and his mind jumbled, enough so that when he spoke, he almost couldn’t recognise his own voice. “What was that? The other me from before? And what can I do to stop it?”

Like Igor before her, Sonia seemed to have all her responses memorised, she spoke without hesitation and with absolute certainty. “The other you? Why, that was your Shadow. Your other half, if you will. The version of you that you keep hidden from the public. One may go so far as to call it ones true self.” Just like his time in here before, Hajime felt as if he immediately understood what she meant, no elaboration needed. “To quell the fires that rage within, you must accept the shadows of your heart, recognise them as a part of your strength. That will allow you to awaken your power- the power of Persona.”

“I don’t think that Shadow of mine is in a very talkative or understanding mood right now though...”

Sonia energetically slammed her hands down onto Igor’s desk, her veil of professionalism lifted to reveal her eager playfulness. “Why, of course! That is a part of controlling your desires. One must clobber their shadow before accepting it. You must ‘assert your dominance’, as they say.”

“I don’t have anything to fight with.”

“...”

“...”

“Ah- yes- umm... I have prepared for such an eventuality.” Briefly disappearing under the desk, Sonia rose again holding what amounted to a thick wooden stick. “There. That should prove useful to you. Now, go ‘beat the ever living shit’ out of your Shadow!”

Hajime had wanted to ask why she’d offered him a fence post to battle with but his vision cut out too quickly. 

The dust blowing across his face forced Hajime’s eyes open, and he was promptly greeted by a throbbing headache. But he knew he couldn’t afford to just sit around in pain right now. He’d been moved behind the statue in the park, but all he needed to do was turn around for his heart to sink to his stomach.

Replacing his Shadow, a... creature of some description was assaulting Makoto and Usami. Well, the ‘creature’ looked more coffin-like in shape, panels of black and white in infinite rotation where the lid would have been. Occasionally, as the panels spun, Hajime caught sight of a pair of eyes- red gleaming eyes filled with malice. Limbs made of what looked to be the same sludge that frothed at his Shadow’s feet, last he saw it, also burst out from behind the panels, and a few seemed to be sprouting from the very back too, and those seemed to be what was propping the monster upright. 

These limbs were what was kicking up so much dust, they sliced through the air with tremendous speed, though Makoto evaded almost all of the strikes, and the ones he didn’t would only just snag the tips of his clothes. As expected of an Ultimate, his physical abilities weren’t anything to laugh at. Hajime had to assume at least, though he didn’t actually know what Makoto’s talent was yet, but the sheer effort he was putting into running in circles to avoid being hurt was astounding in and of itself. He’d have to ask more about him after they escaped this mess. 

Surprising Hajime though, Makoto was receiving some help to fight back. Usami delivered periodic strikes to the shadow monster, it didn’t seem like her little kicks and headbutts were actually damaging the monster, but she was knocking it’s balance, allowing Makoto to avoid attacks much more easily. 

It was then that Hajime noticed something leaning against the back of the statue, right next to him. A wooden stick that, when looking closely, looked kind of like a primitive club. Right... Sonia has told him that he needed to defeat this thing, hadn’t she. 

Gripping the ‘handle’ of the club, adrenaline began to pump its way through Hajime’s body. He had to help Makoto, he had to. All his usual rationalisation seemed to dissipate as his blood began pumping faster. He moved on sheer instinct, darting around the side of the statue, and charging at the shadow monster with the club raised behind his head, high in the air. 

The shadow was too focused on Makoto to really pay attention to Hajime, even as he released a guttural cry before striking the monster. Unfortunately, the stick didn’t seem to affect the coffin shell in any way, and Hajime stumbled back as it bounced harmlessly off of the shell. 

His utter failure served to sober him up a little, as did the light swatting he received from one of the shadowy limbs. The movement felt as if he was just being brushed off as a minor inconvenience. Wait...

“Usami! Attack it’s limb-thingys! We have to knock it completely off balance!” He hoped that he wasn’t wrong with what he was planning, he doubted Makoto could run forever. 

Usami didn’t respond with any words, but she immediately charged at one of the limbs that sprang from the monsters back. Considering that it was a being of shadows, one probably couldn’t describe it as losing a limb, or having it severed, but after Usami bashed herself into the appendage it faded into nothingness, causing the monster to wobble, and turn away from Makoto for the first time. Perfect. 

“Come on Usami! Just like that!” With the coffin-creature focused on Usami, Hajime took his turn, this time swinging at the shadows front. If all went well, he and Usami would swap over a couple more times, attacking alternatively to topple the beast. And that they did. The thing wasn’t overly agile, and as more limbs faded away it became easier and easier to hit it without fear of being attacked back.

“Usami, charge at it! Time to knock it down!”

“You got it!” With a resolute salute, Usami charged one of the last remaining limbs, corkscrewing into one of its front ‘legs’, which was just enough to finally down the thing, a satisfying thud resounding through the park as it toppled. 

Everything was going as Hajime had hoped, and now all he needed was for his final blow to, well, actually be the final blow. Getting a running start, he leaped onto the downed shadow, and swung his club down, caving in some of the rotating panels as he did so. More importantly though, a sickening crunch of Hajime’s club colliding with whatever possessed the gleaming eyes within the coffin.

An ear piercing cry of agony swept over the park, but the adrenaline in Hajime’s head was buzzing far louder. Though he didn’t have time to celebrate his strategic victory; the Shadow quickly dissipated much like its limbs did, and Hajime dropped to the floor. 

It was only as he picked himself up that he had realised just how much his entire body hurt, the rush he felt during combat almost entirely gone. 

Now... there was one last part of to what Sonia said he had to do...

It took a few short moments for his Shadow to rise from the ground again, and by the time it did, Usami was at Hajime’s side, adopting a combat stance. But Hajime gave it a little nudge with his leg to tell it to leave this to him. 

Just accept it... that’s what he’d been told to do. After all, a Shadow was supposed to just be a part of you, right? And it’s not as if he was unfamiliar with the thoughts his Shadow had been spitting out before it transformed. Taking a few deep breaths to ready himself, he dropped his club, and firmly glared at his weakened Shadow. 

“You were right. I admit it. There are times that the status of Ultimates hurts me, and they make me feel bad about who I am. But that will never detract from the fact that I still idolise Ultimates. I know I can never stand among them, but that doesn’t mean I can’t strive to be just like them. Besides, maybe you’re too proud to admit it, but wasn’t a big part of being pushed around exactly what I- what we wanted? To be acknowledged by them, to befriend them... I don’t know what my future may hold, what trials I’ll have to go through as one of those kids who payed their way into a prestigious school whilst lacking all the skill of the people who belong there... but I won’t let myself face it alone. Not anymore.” Hajime’s Shadow had been silent, but once he finished his quick speech, the Shadow once more began to fade away, this time into a pale blue light... and then it was gone. Just like that...

“Hajime, that was incredible!” Hajime had dropped to his knees almost as soon as the Shadow disappeared, the pain his body felt from the strain he’d put it under swamped him all of a sudden, his vision blurred and balance unstable. “Hajime? Hajime are you okay?” Makoto’s voice was muffled, though it sounded close by. 

Makoto and Usami were quick to Hajime’s side, but he looked... distant. “I-I’m sure he just needs to rest. It looked to me like he really pushed himself during that fight. Let’s just give him some time.” 

Makoto was almost impressed by how easily he was willing to accept the fact that a bipedal rabbit just tried to give him some medical advice, but after whatever the hell just happened, he felt like he was willing to believe just about anything right now. 

Silently nodding, Makoto slung one of Hajime’s arms over his shoulder, and carried him the short distance to the statue again, setting him down to let him rest. “So... who are you exactly?”

“Hmm? Oh, right! I am Usami! Magical Miracle Girl Usami! And you are Makoto, yes?” Considering the circumstances, Makoto was kind of impressed by how chipper the rabbit sounded. 

“Yeah, that’s right. Makoto Naegi. I’m guessing you already know Hajime, since you arrived with him. But... where are we exactly? How can we get out of here? And what was that thing just now?”

Usami too plopped herself down by the statue, and Makoto followed her lead, not really wanting to be the only one still awkwardly standing up. “Well, you’re on Jabberwock Island, I know that much. But...” Makoto had a feeling he wasn’t going to like what Usami was going to say next. “I’m not really sure how to leave. I suppose I could take you to the log-out point, but I don’t know for certain if that will help you. Ooo, but your friends battle against that Shadow was simply magnificent, wasn’t it? What a display of strength and tactical know-how! He must be the first NPC I’ve come across that has actually defeated a Shadow.”

Makoto nervously laughed at that NPC comment. He didn’t quite get why Usami had chosen that terminology. Maybe that’s how she viewed the other inhabitants of the island? Then again, when he’d taken a quick look around after waking up, he hadn’t seen anyone else... were they all killed by these Shadows? Turns out he got really lucky after all... “So, that monster was called a Shadow? But why did it look like Hajime? And it transformed too, what’s up with that?”

Somehow, Usami began to sweat. Like, a lot. “Ahhh, I’m sorry! I don’t really know any of those things! I battle shadows, but I don’t really know any of the lore behind them yet. Sorry I can’t help you...”

“Oh, no, it’s okay! Don’t worry about it, I’m sure we can figure out those sorts of things together.” It was an empty promise at the end of the day, Makoto wasn’t set on coming back here, but he’d hate to see the poor thing depressed.

It was then that a groan from Hajime alerted the other two that he had returned to his senses. “Hajime! Are you alright?” Hajime had basically risked his life for Makoto, and saved it too, he owed the guy, and was glad to see he was okay. 

Rubbing his head, Hajime stood up, still a little wobbly on his feet. “Y-yeah... I’m going to be fine... just tired is all...” Makoto promptly rose too, again supporting Hajime on his shoulder. 

“Hey, be careful Hajime. Use my shoulder for a while, okay? We’re going to try and find an exit, right Usami?” Makoto looked down at Usami, his eyes pleading with her to take them home.

Usami promptly nodded, and began to totter off again, heading back the way she’d originally come with Hajime. “Come on you two! The log-out area is back on Island 1.”

Though the journey from the beach he’d woken up on to the park he fought his Shadow in had been a fairly short trip, the return felt agonisingly elongated. 

Every bone in Hajime’s body ached, and even with Makoto’s help the walk was agonising. So when Usami finally brought them to what looked to be a block of cottages that she claimed was the log-out point, he felt an overwhelming wave of relief wash over him. 

Usami had run ahead to where there was a split in the walkway, but as she was about to turn left, she froze, her ears suddenly standing alert. And when Hajime and Makoto turned to look too, the despair hit the both of them even harder. 

Usami had informed them that their point of escape would be the cabins on the left side of the mini broad-walk, but there was something standing between them and any of their means of escape. 

A Shadow. Makoto’s Shadow. 

However, Makoto’s looked entirely dissimilar to Hajime’s, this one was hunched over, slouching, with its hood up, casting shade over its bright yellow eyes. “Wh-why did you come here...?” Its voice was shaky, meek, again very unlike Hajime’s. But it was clear that it was talking to Makoto. 

“Why? It’s not like we voluntarily came to this island! It was an accident. Just some bad... bad luck...” Makoto’s voice began to falter, and Hajime had to wonder why. There was nothing wrong with what he was saying, was there?

“Th-that’s not what I mean!” Despite the nervousness in the Shadows voice, the unnatural echo that accompanied it was highly unnerving. “I’m talking about why you went on this stupid mission tonight. Why? You know Kyoko is just using you!”

Makoto flinched, his grip on Hajime loosening. Oh well, Hajime had a feeling he’d need to stand on his own two feet in a moment anyway. “N-no, of course she isn’t! Kyoko isn’t that type of person, she’d never use me, I know she wouldn’t. I believe in her.”

The Shadow pointed an accusatory finger at Makoto. “No you d-don’t! We both know that’s a lie. Who would really hesitate to use someone like you? At the end of the day, you’re just a normal guy in a world of Ultimates. What kind of talent is Ultimate Lucky Student anyway? It’s so lame that the school board didn’t even get one for the new class this year. You are nothing.”

So that’s Makoto’s talent, huh? Lucky Student. Unfortunately, Hajime did agree, he always thought that the fact that Hope’s Peak brought in a random student from around the country was really dumb. But... that had led to him meeting Makoto, so... could he really say it was a bad thing?

Makoto on the other hand was trembling, his hands shaking so much he was forced to let go of Hajime. “N-no... I would never... I’m... I’m not...” Makoto didn’t finish before a familiar powerful gust of wind blew the three companions back, but this time they were ready for it. Well, as ready as one can be for something like this.

The red sludge that had gargled from the feet of Hajime’s Shadow now came from Makoto’s, it’s body suddenly starting to pulse before exploding into a rain of the sludge, and from within came another monster, just like it had done for Hajime. Though this beast looked significantly different. 

This Shadow looked to be like a thunder cloud of some sort, a dark grey haze with licks of colour flashing through it, from purples to reds, yellows to blacks. But other than that... the main body of fog was too thick to really see through, there was no way to know if there was any physical form to the creature.

Usami stood firm, and Hajime joined by her side, his club already in hand, creating a wall between the Shadow and Makoto. But before Hajime could take any further action, a searing pain coursed through his head, unlike anything he’d ever felt before. His free hand gripped his skull, the other barely managing to hold its grip of his weapon. He could faintly hear the concerned shouts of Usami and Makoto, but they were drowned out by another voice, two short phrases echoing in his mind:

“I am thou.. thou art I...”

Faint memories of a power he never remembered having bombarded his mind; how to use it, how to summon it, what it could do...

Hajime’s mind suddenly cleared, and he knew exactly what to do next, his body revitalised by an unknown energy.

“P-PERSONA!”

A blue light surged from Hajime, and looking as if it rose from within him, a figure appeared above him. A ceramic masculine figure at that. Pieces of the ceramics looked to be crumbling in various areas across its body, each segment revealing one of two layers, a pristine white or corrupted black. Supporting the ceramic figure was a chariot baring the snarling countenance of a lion, in fact the masculine figure was meticulously chained to it, so far as that even the reigns of the chariot were said chains. Curiously though, the lower body, below the waist, was naught but air.

“Strike it down Herakles!” He screamed it on impulse, his left hand still gripping his head, and his Persona charged forth into the fog, a metallic squeal of pain ringing out from within as the Persona circled back to Hajime, disappearing to the naked eye, but its presence still acutely felt. Perfect, that must mean that something comprises this Shadow other than just the fog. 

“Oh my- Hajime, what was that?!” The excitement in Makoto’s voice was impossible to hide, despite the situation. The look of shock and awe on Usami’s face seemed to indicate that she was just as surprised and confused. 

“I-I don’t know, it just sort of happened! But... I also just know how to use it. Like it’s some kind of instinct.” There wasn’t much time to stand around talking about that power now though, there was a battle they had to win. 

Clutching his head once more, Hajime summoned Herakles again, sending him forth into the haze of their enemy, but this time no such cry of agony could be heard. Great, so that means that the first strike was likely just a lucky shot. Plus, as Hajime kept calling upon his Persona, he felt as if his energy was being sapped. Couldn’t use a Persona forever after all. “Come on Usami, there’s gotta be a core of some sort inside that thing. We’ll just have to go in and crush it.”

Usami gave him a resolute nod, and they charged the fog monster, only to each be swept aside in the next moment. Apparently the flares of colour were more than just for a light show, they felt more like talons as they slashed at the pair, throwing them to either side of the main ‘body’. 

The creature had reached the middle of the crosswalk now, so while all three could still see each other, actually getting to one another would prove difficult. Even more so in Hajime’s case, the pain his body had been suffering came rushing back after that strike. And the Shadow seemed to pick up on that. It didn’t exactly move- a fog cloud didn’t need to turn around- but Hajime could tell it was preparing an attack. 

“H-hey! Leave him alone! I-I won’t let you hurt my friend!” Makoto screamed at his Shadow, fear eking into his voice, but he stood strong all the same. His quivering hands were grasping... a knife? And an absurdly large one at that. Now wasn’t really the time, but Hajime would really need to ask about that one later. Add something else to that mental list of questions for the boy. 

In spite of Makoto’s threat, and, way more threateningly, the weapon he had brandished, the Shadow didn’t take its attention off of Hajime. In that moment, Hajime found himself unable to move. Not by some magical binding or anything like that. No. It was much simpler than that. He was afraid. Afraid that his life was about to end.

Makoto could feel his teeth chattering. A sharp despair was pounding in his chest. A fear all his own erupting as all he could do was watch Usami desperately trying to reach Hajime, but constantly being stopped by the whips of colour, and watch as Hajime’s limbs stiffened, his face paling. 

What could he do? What could he ever do? He was useless, a nobody. He was no good to no one. No good to Kyoko before, and he’d be no good to Hajime now. 

“...but I can change that. I can change!” He still had his self doubts, of course he did, those couldn’t disappear with a few self encouraging words, but he’d always strived to do good, hadn’t he? It was one of his few great qualities. And he refused to let Hajime get hurt for his sake any longer. 

Taking a deep breath, Makoto decided to put his faith in something he had never done before. His luck. Hajime had said something about a core, so he just had to hit it, right? The knife he had was certainly not a throwing one, but his weapon was the only one that could feasibly be thrown for any impact. Regardless, the clock was ticking, he just had to strike before the fog did. So summoning the most confidence he could, he threw the knife like a dart into the cloud...

A sickening scream of pain rang out, followed by the clank of a heavy metal hitting the ground. 

The fog around the core thinned, enough that it had mostly faded, and all three could see the core within- a sturdy heart of iron that was rolling pathetically around on the floor.

Usami raised one of her tiny fists in the air, and called out to the two boys, “Come on you two, let’s go in for an All-Out Attack!” Following her lead, Makoto and Hajime charged at the core. And a flurry of kicks, bashes and slices later, the three jumped back, just in time to watch what was left of the Shadow dissipate into the air. 

Just like last time too, Makoto’s Shadow soon rose from the ground again. Makoto stiffened, gulping as he stood examining himself. “H-Hajime? What do we do now?”

Hajime had limped over to Makoto’s side by now, a friendly hand place on his shoulder. “You have to accept your Shadow. It’s a part of you after all. That’s all we can do really, accept the side of us we wish to hide from others.”

Nodding his head, Makoto took another deep breath. He’d always heard and read stories about people and heroes facing their inner demons, but he never expected to be literally doing that himself. 

Heroes, huh...?

“Yeah... you were right. I am just a normal guy. But... but what’s wrong with that!” Makoto’s eyes quickly darted to Hajime, before flying back to the Shadow. “Hajime is a completely normal guy too, but what I’ve seen him do today is more incredible than anything I’ve ever seen in my life. So I’m... so I’m going to strive to be just like him. My talent isn’t what defines me, I am. And I’m going to prove to everyone why I belong in Hope’s Peak. Kyoko won’t need to use me anymore, because I’ll be able to stand on my own two feet. I refuse to continue just being a bystander, even if I’m a nobody now, I won’t let things end that way. I want to help people, my friends. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.” Coated in a faint blue light, Makoto’s Shadow seemed content with Makoto’s confession, and just as before, Makoto collapsed as his Shadow disappeared. 

Rushing to Makoto’s side, Hajime lifted the boy up with his shoulders, just as Makoto had done to support him before. Usami followed close behind, an excited cheer following her. “Wowie! Fantastic work Makoto! You- oh, he’s passed out.”

Hajime gave Usami a pained grin, wrapping an arm around Makoto’s waist to aid his support effort, considering he wasn’t in top form himself. Hajime was so sore he figured the extra support would be absolutely necessary. “Yeah... just like I did. I’d hate to do this while he’s out of it, but could you take us to the exit now? I’d feel a lot safer if I could get him to rest elsewhere...”

“Oh, right, of course. It’s just down here.” Following Usami down the walkway they had tried to go down beforehand, Usami stopped outside of the far most cottage. Hajime couldn’t comprehend why, they all looked identical to him, but he had to trust Usami, she was his only companion from the island. 

“So all you have to do is step in there, wait a few moments, and you’ll be logged out. Have a safe trip!” Giving their bunny companion a quick nod, Hajime carried Makoto inside of the cottage. Well, inside was a generous term, there was a tiny block of space beyond the doorway, as if it were an out-of-bounds area in a video game that you weren’t meant to get to, just a black cube of space. Really he was just surprised he could get both himself and Makoto in there. 

“...will you come back?” Before they could ‘log out’, Hajime heard what sounded like a plea from Usami. “It gets pretty lonely around here, and you’re the first party members I’ve managed to save from the tutorial.”

Wait... huh?

There was no time to respond, or even think about what Usami said as Hajime’s world suddenly went black. 

When Hajime regained his vision, he was standing the same way he had been in that cramped space in the cottage doorway, holding Makoto on his shoulder. Wow... back like nothing had even happened. 

Setting Makoto down in Chihiro’s chair, Hajime hurried over to his bag, which he’d left over by what used to be Miaya’s set-up. Rooting through it, he quickly found his phone. He wanted to check the time.

As it turned out, it was nearly 2AM, about two hours had passed. Well... good to know?

It was around twenty minutes later of standing around before Hajime heard Makoto stirring. “Hey, Makoto, you all right? You were out for a while...”

“Nnn... huh? We’re back in the tech room... that... that wasn’t a dream, was it? That island...?” Hajime shook his head, and Makoto responded with a smile. “Oh, good. I’m kinda glad. It would’ve sucked if I’d only managed to be that cool in my head. Uh, not to say I’m cool but, well, hey, you were really cool though, summoning that thing and all-“

“You were cool Makoto. Even though you were scared, you faced down both versions of your Shadow. I think that’s deserving to be called pretty cool.”

Makoto coyly rubbed the back of his head, a shy tint of red colouring his cheeks. “Heh, thanks Hajime. That means a lot. So, I guess we must be friends now? I mean, it would be stupid not to be, right?”

Hajime was actually caught off guard by that. Of course he wanted to be friends, but Makoto jumped right for the jugular there. He was either viciously friendly, or just wore his heart on his sleeve, and Hajime felt he already knew the answer. “Yeah, of course. I wouldn’t want things any other way. And I guess my first act as your new friend is to sneak you out of here when my shift is over. Not to mention those...” He tilted his head towards the club and knife laying over by the Neo World Programme cube.

“Huh? ... oh shoot! I completely forgot about the security cameras! Oh, I’m going to be in so much trouble...” Hajime chuckled quietly, even though this was probably something quite serious. But Makoto too settled down quite quickly, so I can’t have been too big a problem. “Soooo... do you wanna hang out after school tomorrow? I guess you could say that’s my way of making it up to you for sneaking me out tonight.”

Again, Hajime smiled and nodded. Actually, he was really excited by the prospect of hanging out with a friend after school. This was exactly what he’d been dying for! “Uh, yeah, I’d love to. Wanna just meet outside the school gates at the end of the day?”

“Sure. It’s a promise.” Makoto stood up from Chihiro’s chair, and stuck his hand out for Hajime. “I know we’re already past this point, but I just like to shake on things like friendship. Makes it feel official, you know?”

Taking Makoto’s hand in a firm grip, Hajime flashed one of his first genuinely friendly smiles in a long, long time. “I wouldn’t worry about it Makoto, I look forward to being your friend.”

Thou art I... And I am thou... Thou hast established a new bond... 

It brings to thee a new hope...

Thou hast been blessed by the Star Arcana...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we’ve reached the end of what I’d essentially call the pilot for the fic. These first ten chapters (+prologue) were put out to test the waters, see if people actually liked what I was doing. And from what I can tell, people have been enjoying this.
> 
> Now, these chapters were the only ones that had been fully written before I decided to post them, every other chapter from here currently exists as a skeleton of what I want the final product to be. So everything is planned out, but not written yet. As such, I won’t be continuing my posting schedule that I’ve had the past ten days, from now on posts will likely be every other day. 
> 
> One thing I’d like to explicitly address is writing combat. I don’t know whether or not I’m ‘good’ at writing it, but I’m sure as hell not confident about my writing of it. I mean, I wanted to keep it simple for what would amount to the tutorial in a game, but it still doesn’t feel quite right to me yet. Opinions on how well/poorly I did that part would be much appreciated. 
> 
> Especially now, I’d love to hear comments and criticism of my work, since I’m writing a lot of parts from scratch. But I’d just as much love to hear your thoughts and speculation on things like the plot, and who’s going to be what Arcana/Social Link. Maybe even guessing ‘party’ members and Persona’s for them, considering I haven’t technically had Makoto awaken to his yet. 
> 
> Anyway, sorry this was such a long notes section on top of a chapter that was already long (I’m thinking maybe making either every 10th chapter a long one, or just every key dive into the NWP), but I hope you’ll come back soon when I update again!


	13. Chapter 11

Wednesday, April 17th

Hajime hadn’t managed to sleep a wink the whole night. Well, that was expected, wasn’t it? That’s why part of his contract had let him skip morning classes if he wanted to. But this time it had nothing to do with how long he’d stayed awake with Makoto in the tech lab. No, this time it was because he was thinking, thinking about everything that happened... and the parting words Usami had left him with. 

Plus, there was a lot he still wanted to ask Makoto about, they’d pretty unanimously agreed to just rest the extra three hours until Hajime’s shift ended, even if Hajime didn’t get any actually get any of that agreed rest. 

There was also the whole matter of ‘sneaking’ Makoto out with him. Because there was no way their bumbling escape went unnoticed at all. He hoped he hadn’t accidentally sentenced Makoto to expulsion or anything, they’d laughed about it last night, but that was a possible reality...

Well, he was going to be meeting up with Makoto after school today anyway... they’d both know the situation by then. 

The day was passing by uneventfully. A regular boring old day. A thought had crossed Hajime’s mind whilst the day dragged on though- would those after school classes be as boring as this? 

The only two teachers he knew from the Main Course suggested otherwise. Chisa seemed energetic, kind, and most of all fun. He doubted she would be a boring teacher. And as much as he held a slight grudge against Mr. Kisekura, he had to confess that the man seemed like he would make for an interesting teacher. Maybe he should look into taking those catch up classes after all...

The sound of the school bell abruptly cut off his train of thought. Lunch time, huh? What should he do today? He wasn’t sure if he was ready to casually hang around in the tech room yet, and he didn’t even know if any of the three remaining members of the project would be allowed in there yet, or even be around at all. He had been invited to Sonia’s classroom, but that place had a pretty grim atmosphere right now...

Once again, his thoughts were forcibly cut short, this time by a voice. “Hajime! Hey, wanna come have lunch with me!” It was Makoto. He was standing in the doorway, obliviously waving as the other students in Hajime’s class shared harsh whispers and jeers. 

“... who the hell is that guy?”

“Do you think he’s an Ultimate? What’s he doing here?”

“I’ll bet it’s just like with that loud bitch from the other day...”

“Wow, I can’t believe Hajime of all people is getting special treatment... has he been making friends with the Ultimates?”

Hajime never thought the day would come when he was the subject of gossip. Granted, he was only half of this one, but as much as it wasn’t entirely pleasant, it was somewhat empowering to have people talking about you. Makoto on the other hand hadn’t seemed to pick up on the animosity in the room, and was still gleefully waving at Hajime. 

Obviously Hajime wasn’t going to turn him down, so he picked up his bag, and hurried out of the class, whispers still following him as he moved. “Hey Makoto. Didn’t expect to see you here. How did you find my class so quick?”

Makoto beamed an innocent smile as the pair walked down the corridor, though Hajime wasn’t sure where they were going exactly. “Oh, heh heh, actually... I just checked all of them. I didn’t even know what year you were in, let alone class. I just got lucky in finding you so fast. Speaking of being lucky...” Makoto leaned in closer, but carried on walking. “There’s something I wanna talk to you about. I’m going to take us somewhere quiet on the Main Course, okay?”

“It’s not like I’m going to say no to that, and you don’t need to whisper.” Hajime found himself smiling as well, apparently Makoto’s glee was just that infectious.

After a while of walking, Makoto had led Hajime to an open area on school grounds that was entirely devoid of people. All that was there was a fountain and a few benches. 

Hajime assumed they weren’t about to have a joyous lunch together, and the fact that Makoto didn’t bring out any kind of food after he sat down only served to push that fear. And as soon as Hajime sat himself down next to Makoto, the flood gates opened.

“Hajime... we should go back to that island soon!” Makoto’s declaration simultaneously took Hajime off guard, whilst also being fairly predictable. 

“You... want to go back there? Are you sure? Last night wasn’t exactly what I’d call an ‘ideal holiday’ by any means.”

“What? No, I don’t want to go back to relax or anything. I want to go back because... because I have this funny feeling about the place.” Hajime’s raised eyebrow was indication enough for Makoto to carry on, but Hajime knew the sort of feeling Makoto was having. “So... you know that Kyoko Kirigiri sent me out last night, right? Well, she told me to investigate into the Neo World Programme. I think she suspects it might have something to do with the recent murders.”

Deep in his heart, Hajime couldn’t disagree with that assessment. The inside of that thing was dangerous. Not only that, but Usami’s own words kept coming back to his mind... “Uh, okay... but haven’t you got your proof of something being up with the whole Programme? I’d say an entire world inside of that thing is proof of something suspicious, at the very least.”

Makoto nodded, but held a surprising frown. “Yeah... at least, that’s what I thought at first. But last night, when I touched the screen myself, nothing happened. It was only when you touched it that those ripple things started happening and we fell in. So I was thinking, if I tell Kyoko about what happened, what if the same thing happens to her as for me? And on the other hand... what if it does work? Hajime, it was dangerous in there. We had weapons, but... I’d feel awful if something happened to Kyoko because of me...”

Hajime was silent. It was a fair dilemma, but wasn’t Makoto ultimately just obstructing justice? “I get what you’re saying, I do think it’d be dangerous, but why couldn’t we go with her? I doubt she’d turn down the help, and it would be much safer.”

Makoto was biting his lip, his palms clenched around his knees. “Look... I don’t want to involve her while I’m not sure. I want to be one hundred percent positive that this thing is linked to the murders. Otherwise, I’d feel like I’m just endangering her for no reason. Is it... am I being too selfish?”

The question was asked innocently, but the sorrow and doubt in Makoto’s eyes as he looked at Hajime backed him into a proverbial corner. He couldn’t break Makoto’s spirit... “No, I think you’re right. We shouldn’t get her involved yet. We might’ve just gotten lucky, so... if something happens to us when we next go in... well what I mean to say is that two lives lost is better than three.” It was a morbid line of thought, but an unfortunately realistic one, especially if the murders were linked to that other world. 

Makoto had tensed at that thought, but his resolute nod had spoken his agreement for him. “Speaking of getting hurt though, Hajime, you don’t like injured at all after yesterday. You took a few strong looking hits, but you look fine. Is everything okay?”

The boy was a lot more perceptive than Hajime had initially given him credit for, noticing that as well as the detail about touching the screen. “Yeah, I checked when I went back to my dorm, but I’m fine. Slight muscle pain, but no visible injuries. I wonder why...?”

“Yeah, I thought that too. I actually went looking for you earlier as well, first thing today I went down to the nurses office, but Mikan said that you hadn’t been there. I think you should go before lunch ends, just to be safe. Okay?”

Nodding, Hajime prepped a question of his own, he’d been impressed by how well Makoto had controlled the conversation up until this point, but there was a little thing he wanted to ask before he headed down to the nurses office. “Hey... where did you get that knife from yesterday? It looked like you just pulled it out of thin air?”

Smiling sheepishly, Makoto rubbed the back of his head, a fairly common motion for the boy. “Ah yeah, well... I kinda told one of my friends that I was going to be snooping around last night, and when I told her she couldn’t come with me, she gave me that in case I needed to protect myself.”

Seriously?! What kind of friends does Makoto have? Not only to give him such a dangerous item, but to have been carrying it around in the first place... “Jeez, your friends sound scary... maybe I should get going before something happens to me...”

Quietly laughing, the pair stood up from their bench. “Heh, don’t worry, I think you’ll be fine. But yeah, go to the nurses office. Mikan barely leaves the place anymore, so I’m sure she’ll be there. Oh, and don’t forget, I’ll meet you outside the main gate after school. Hopefully things’ll be a little less heavy later.” Chuckling again, Makoto waved Hajime off as he headed back to the main building, Hajime giving a small wave back as he went. 

“Mhmm... uhhh... o-okay, I think it’s safe to say th-that all you’re experiencing is regular muscle fatigue or strain. Did y-you do any intensive exercise in the last twenty four hours?”

Intensive was certainly one word for it... “Uh, yeah, I guess. I definitely pushed myself way harder than I would normally yesterday...”

Finding himself in the nurses office two days in a row... Hajime hoped this wouldn’t be a frequent occurrence. Although, with less on his mind today, it had allowed him some time to appreciate Mikan in a similar way to how he’d heard everyone else did. Though he was embarrassed to admit that he had felt a little flustered when she told him to take his shirt off. Of course, she just wanted to check for any external signs of injury, but that hadn’t been quite where his mind had been at the time... “O-okay then. In that case, the only thing I can recommend is that you let your body rest. I-it is very normal for this to happen when you put your body under stress it isn’t used to. N-next time, try doing some stretches beforehand, that w-will limber up your muscles a bit, a-and should result in less strain... a-ah, sorry, was that too much? I-I guess you didn’t really need sporting advice from someone like me!”

Hajime had been very impressed by the nurse up until this point, but he hadn’t seen her act quite like this. She broke down so easily... kinda like Miu and her... no, sudden shyness isn’t the right term, meekness maybe? “N-no, it’s fine. That’s helpful information, thank you. To be honest, I should probably be doing more exercises anyway.”

Mikan nodded enthusiastically, yet still managed to somehow make herself seem so small. “G-good! Everyone could stand to be a bit healthier. That goes for diet too, for someone of your height, you’re very thin.”

“Uh... thanks?” He wasn’t sure why he was acting grateful, it felt more like he was being lectured by a shyer version of his mother. And thinking of the nurse like that suddenly made his thoughts earlier unbearably awkward. 

Thankfully, before he could begin to curl up with shame, another girl entered the office, wearing a keikogi and hakama. Though her sunny expression visibly darkened as soon as she laid her eyes on Hajime. He could’ve sworn he’d heard her mutter something about degenerates...

“Hmm? O-oh, Tenko! Did you get hurt in practice again? I’ve told you t-time and again, stop pushing yourself so hard. I-it’s very admirable that you want to perfect your craft, I-I personally really admire your determination, but you’re going to do some serious damage to your body some day! P-possibly permanent damage!” Dragging Tenko by the wrist, it seemed to Hajime that she was making a very conscious effort to keep Tenko as far away from him as possible. 

“Yes, and I’m sorry to always worry you Mikan. You must deal with so much trouble already, what with all the degenerate rough housing that goes on in these halls, but today it’s just some light scrapes for me. I got... a little too excited when practicing, and I... well I started wailing on the dummy a bit too hard.”

“...you’re the one who usually sends most of the boys here anyway...” Mikan sighed under her breath, but reentered nurse mode almost immediately upon looking Tenko over. “T-Tenko, your knuckles are bleeding! I th-think you most certainly did go overboard! Aikido is a defensive sport, how do you constantly get so banged up when practising!”

“Hey, I practise Neo Aikido, it’s a little different. Of course I defend the weak, but I also punish the wicked, and that sometimes calls for more drastic action!” Mikan looked very sceptical of that notion, but Tenko seemed pretty proud of her own declarations. 

Mikan quickly turned back to Hajime though, stumbling over to start gently pushing him out of the room. “S-sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave. I-it’s nothing personal, I promise, I just don’t think Tenko will allow me to examine her while you’re here. Umm... please stay safe!”

Was this Tenko girl just really shy? Whatever the truth of the matter, Hajime got it, it was a bit weird for a stranger to be around when you’re having a body examination. He probably wouldn’t have liked it if she was there when he was just taking his shirt off, so he could only imagine how much worse it would be for a girl to do that in front of a boy. Granting Mikan one last thank you, he headed off back to the Reserve Course, to finish off his school day. 

“... is that another degenerate I should track down for you Mikan? Did he sexually harass you whilst you were alone!”

“No, o-of course not! Tenko... please don’t spread any rumours... now, where did you hurt yourself, other than your knuckles?” 

It had been quite some time since Hajime had hurried out of school, he’d taken to a much more solemn walk back to the dorms for the past few years, but today he found himself practically skipping to the school gates. Okay, maybe that was an over exaggeration, but he felt like he had more pep in his step. And the confused looks he was getting from other Reserve students helped to affirm him of that fact. 

But for once, he couldn’t care less what anyone else was saying or thinking about him. 

Makoto was already outside waiting for him, giving him that same wave he’d done at lunch when he spotted Hajime coming. “Hey Hajime! So, I uh, I know I invited you out today, but I don’t really have any plans for what to do... so, uh, do you wanna just walk around town for a while? We could grab some ice cream or something.”

Smiling, Hajime rolled his eyes. Makoto may have been more perceptive than he’d first thought, but he was spot-on with his assumption on how scatterbrained Makoto was. “Sure, that’s fine by me. Let’s get going then.”

Makoto was quick to strike up conversation as they walked. “How did the visit to the nurses office go? Are you okay after all?”

Hajime nodded. “Yeah, I was told I had probably just overworked my muscles, basically.” Both of them were having the same thought, it had been playing on Hajime’s mind all afternoon too. “I wonder why that’s all it was? I would’ve thought I would be more seriously hurt after last night...”

They both knew they weren’t going to get anywhere by just thinking, they didn’t understand that other world at all. “I guess that’s another reason to go back, huh? There’s a lot about the place we don’t know. If we can understand the island better, then I’d be more comfortable telling Kyoko all about it.”

Hajime had a feeling that Makoto was just using that as a justification for not telling her immediately, but he too was very curious about that Jabberwock Island. “I guess so. Actually... I’ll bet everyone working on the project knows about it too! I can try and get something out of some of them tomorrow!” While Hajime doubted Yasuke would willingly offer any information, Miu was such a loud mouth that she probably wouldn’t be able to stop herself from spilling everything she knew. Plus, there was Chihiro, Hajime hadn’t even spoken to them yet. 

“Oh, that’s a great idea! Info straight from the source. If that’s the case, should we head back in tomorrow night?”

“Uhh... maybe not. The nurse told me to rest for a while. So maybe... the day after tomorrow? Well, night after tomorrow.”

“Yeah, okay, that’s fine. Should probably listen to the nurse, huh?” Makoto’s excited chuckle indicated that he was a little more interested in just going back than Hajime’s health, but Hajime couldn’t really blame him. That and Hajime was pretty confident he didn’t mean it like that, he was just incautious with his words. 

“Hmm... do you think I’ll be able to summon a Persona as well? What do you think mine will be?” Makoto really was excited about this. Probably too excited. But Hajime knew why. It was all in his acceptance speech. Makoto wants to help people, and this might prove to be one of the best ways to do that. Whether it’s be helpful to Kyoko’s investigation, or maybe just protecting him from a Shadow as some sort of repayment of a debt after their last encounters. 

“I dunno, I guess we’ll just have to see. But considering I only summoned mine for battle, I kinda hope we don’t find out what yours is... hang on a second, how do you know about Persona’s? I didn’t tell you anything about them...”

Makoto shrugged, lightly scratching his head. “I’m not sure... when I woke up this morning, it just sort it clicked with me, I just knew...” Actually, that was just like what happened with himself, everything about his Persona had just clicked into place in an instant. “Oh, uh, sorry I keep on talking about last night, but there’s something I’d like to ask about the security footage... I was sure that we’d be caught on camera, but I wasn’t called out today, and I even asked Kyoko to check it out, since she has permission to, and according to her... there was nothing. We weren’t on there.”

“Wait, really? Not even when we were leaving? But shouldn’t I be on there when you left? We were together after all.” Unfortunately, that was something else they couldn’t just think up the answer to. Not from what they knew. 

“You don’t think... did someone mess with the footage?” No, of course not, who would do that? And perhaps more importantly, why? If there was someone who doctored the footage in some way, why would they do it? Did they have some motivation to not have Makoto and Hajime get caught, or... was someone covering their tracks? Was someone else in the school last night? Whatever the case, it had been a stroke of luck for the pair. 

An air of uncertainty about what was really going on loomed behind them for the rest of their afternoon. Hajime had been given some very overt hints that something much deeper was going on with the Neo World Programme project, but just how deep did this rabbit hole run?


	14. Chapter 12

Thursday, April 18th

Mornings like these had become unfortunately common place for Shuichi over the last few days. He’d sit alone in the school courtyard, his only companion a cup of coffee, and reread his notes on the cases over and over and over again, trying to make sense of the jumbled puzzle pieces. 

Part of him wished that he could just sit in the warmth of his homeroom class and do this, but Kokichi’s existence alone meant that getting out any crucial documents was a gamble, and one with the odds rigged against him, but even excluding Kokichi, there were a number of his classmates that were just a bit too meddlesome. Be it Kirumi trying to help him organise in a more efficient manner, or Kiyo reading something over his shoulder and then proceeding to tell a very long, albeit interesting, story from folklore that just so happened to hold similar elements to his cases. Even Kaede...

As much as he appreciated some of the help he got from his classmates, this was just something he wanted to do himself. He’d tell himself time and time again that helping the quintessential Ultimate Detective to solve this case would serve as definitive proof to himself that this was an occupation he wanted to pursue, and that his title was earned. That was why Kaede’s meddling was the most annoying. 

Just like everyone else, Shuichi truly appreciated the help she’d try to give him, but... she usually only wounded his pride. Kaede was no detective, but she is very intelligent, and she could pick up on small details that he himself had discussed with Kyoko. But to him, that just meant that Kaede was a better detective than he was. Without even seeing bodies, or holding evidence, she could deduce things that he’d missed, the same things Kyoko told him whilst wearing her smug grin. It just made him feel more inadequate that he already was. 

He figured that’s why he enjoyed Maki’s company so much now, and why most of his free time had been spent with her. She understood the value of silence, and usually just let him work in peace. In a bizarre twist of fate, his greatest moral support was now Maki, of all people. And it was obvious to Shuichi why- she was the perfect companion for him right now. He didn’t want someone to help him by intervening, just being there for him was what he wanted. And on days he was getting really stressed, she’d give him a break by initiating some small talk, dropping the subject fairly quickly, and allowing him to get back to work, but with an alleviated mind. 

“Hey, Shuichi! What you doing out here by yourself?”

Clutching his papers to his chest, Shuichi excitedly shot up from the bench he had been occupying, quickly turning to face the source of that voice. “Kaito! You’re back! I thought you said you weren’t coming out of the hospital for another few weeks.”

Seeing Kaito outside of his hospital room was a breath of fresh air that Shuichi deeply needed. Sure, he knew Kaito fell into the same type of category that almost all of his other classmates did in terms of meddling, but that didn’t really matter right now. Kaito was really the one who helped Shuichi the most throughout their trial year for the Academy. Whenever he felt like just completely giving up, ditching Hope’s Peak because he didn’t believe he was worthy, Kaito would be there to shake some sense into him, to inspire him in a way no one else could. Seeing a man he admired so much be confined to a hospital room for so long though had hurt a lot. Kaito never really let it show, but Shuichi knew that sitting around all day wasn’t something Kaito liked doing. 

“Heh heh, well, a little illness can’t hold someone like me down. What kinda Luminary of the Stars would I be if I let myself get held down by some earthly disease?” They both knew that whatever illness Kaito had was a little more than just ‘some earthly disease’, but Shuichi found confidence in Kaito’s defiance of reality. Head strong, ambitious, Kaito was so many things that Shuichi wasn’t. “Hey, bro, you alright? You’re spacing out a bit.”

“Oh? Sorry Kaito, I just... I’m glad that you’re back is all.”

Kaito’s beaming smile made Shuichi smile too, his mood lifting ever further out of that slump he’d been in earlier. “That’s great to hear! Sorry about leaving my sidekicks all by themselves though, that was pretty uncool of me. So, to make it up to you, I’m gonna take you and Maki Roll out after school. Whatever you two wanna do, it’s on me!” The friendly thumbs up Kaito gave Shuichi was met with an amused sigh.

“Kaito, I’d love to, but I have these cases... m-maybe you and Maki could enjoy dinner together or something...”

It was Kaito’s turn to sigh, a very exasperated one. “Oh, c’mon Shuichi, it’ll be fine if you rest for a day! I’m sure taking a break will open your mind to new possibilities!” He wrapped an arm around Shuichi’s shoulders, starting to usher him back into the school building. “What are you even doing out here by yourself? You better not have slipped back into your old habits while I was gone. You should at least have Maki Roll with you, my sidekicks need to have each other’s backs when I can’t.”

Shuichi wanted to protest, for another reason other than his cases, but he’d have been lying if he said he didn’t want to celebrate with Kaito and Maki... he was sure Kyoko would understand if he took just one day off. 

As he’d promised, Hajime had hurried out of his classroom as soon as lunch period had begun. He prayed that at least one person would be down in the tech room, and when he finally arrived he was met with someone that filled him with hope and dread. 

Miu was the only member of the team actually in the room. Which was great in the sense that she was the one Hajime felt he was most likely to get information out of, but it was also Miu... so he was ready for some hard work to get to that point. 

She hadn’t seemed to notice him as he first came in, she was occupied smashing what looked to be two plastic tubes together, though to what end Hajime had no clue. “Hey Miu. Where’s everyone else?” An innocent question, but it was about to open up a world of confusion. 

Miu angrily looked up, tossing the plastic over her shoulder. “Like I’d fuckin’ know, no one tells me shit! Chihiro don’t come round at lunch, Yasuke fucked off somewhere, and don’t even get me started on that Miaya skank!”

“Geez, ever heard of respect for the dead! Do you even think before you speak?” Hajime hadn’t expected that to come from Miu. Miaya was one of her coworkers, he figured she’d have at least a little respect for her. 

Predictably, Miu froze up, recoiling. “Wh-what? N-now you’re just being a dick! I mean, she’s pretty much dead to me anyway, but what’s it to you, were you looking to pipe her or some shit? She left the project is all...”

“...huh?” Wait, did Miu not know? Actually, come to think of it, not a single rumour or bit of gossip had floated through the Reserve Course about Miaya’s death, and although Hajime didn’t watch the news that often, he was pretty sure he hadn’t seen the murder be reported on either, not a single member of the press had come to school all week. What was going on? Was the incident not publicised?

“Bitch didn’t even leave her fuckin’ research for us, so Yasuke better have that shit down, ‘cause otherwise this project is getting gang banged.” Crass remarks aside, Hajime found Miu’s words intriguing. It only took a brief turn to check, but yeah, all those notebooks that had been on Miaya’s desk area were gone. Why did she not know about the murder though? Did either of the others know? Was the school purposely covering up the incident since Miaya technically wasn’t a student here? “Eh, neurology is basically a more scientific version of therapy anyway, right? We can probably do this without that midget.”

“Miu... what actually is the Neo World Programme? Since I’m on the project now, can you tell me?” It had dawned on him a little while ago that he was actually still in the dark as to what the purpose of the project was, even though he’d experienced the practical application first hand. 

Miu looked apprehensive at first, her eyes nervously darting around, but soon enough she relented. “Fine, I guess I can tell you what I know. But it’s not much, despite how important I am, I’ve only been told the necessary stuff. I’m responsible for putting the whole NWP together physically, but other than that I’m not really involved. Chihiro did all the coding, and that was to implement the research Miaya and Yasuke have done. At its core, the NWP is a therapy machine.”

A therapy machine? Hajime had been in it himself, but there was nothing therapeutic about it! Well... except for the location... and he could conceivably see half of the ordeal of facing your Shadow as being used for therapy. Huh... “So... is that all?” Miu nodded her head, as if she were proud of her basic knowledge. 

“Yeah that’s all, bitch! I told ya, I don’t get told what I don’t have to be. But... if you do wanna know more, I’ll bet I could get you your info. But only if you get on the floor and beg!”

“... thanks but no thanks.”

Again, Miu recoiled, backtracking as quickly as she could. “Fine fine fine, I’ll get you whatever you need, as long as you help me out, deal?”

Now, on paper, that sounded reasonable. But if this was to just lure him in... well, he had to at least bite. “Maybe. What would I be helping you with?”

Almost immediately, Miu perked up again, bouncing on the spot. “Nice! ‘Aight cock womble, you’ll be helping me out with my inventions.” The sparkle in Miu’s eyes were borderline maniacal. “As the Ultimate Inventor, I create a lot of shit, some of it brilliant, some of it stinkier shit than you. And because I can’t risk robbing the world of my talent and perfection, I want someone to help me test out my inventions. So? What do you say? I’ll even pay you, I make so much bank doing this I can make it rain so hard on you you’ll drown in your pay cheque.”

Money really wasn’t something Hajime needed to get ahold of, but he would like to learn as much as he could about the NWP. As it stood, Miu hadn’t been able to answer any of the questions that he or Makoto had, but she was also his best bet at getting more info right now. It would probably be dangerous, but... “Fine. You’ve got yourself a deal.”

Thou art I... And I am thou... Thou hast established a new bond... 

It brings to thee a new hope...

Thou hast been blessed by the Devil Arcana...

“Nyeh... isn’t that hard to do Angie?”

Angie didn’t respond to Himiko, absorbed in her painting. Though perhaps ‘possessed by’ would have been a better term to describe her current state of being. 

Angie had spent most of the day painting, and painting one thing- Tenko. Which, for Tenko, was a nice relaxation for her bandaged fists, but the fact that she wasn’t allowed to move that much was a cramp to her usual style. Initially Angie had allowed her to move as much as she’d wanted, but an hour or so in she’d been told that Atua wanted her to stay still for a while. A request she wouldn’t have complied to if Himiko hadn’t come in to watch the painting session. 

But worse than the standing around was all the talk Tenko could hear buzzing around all day. In the nearly two weeks they’d officially been part of Hope’s Peak Academy, both herself and Angie had gained notoriety amongst students who visited the gym for their... eccentricity- at least, that was the nice way Tenko thought of it. 

All the talk from the Reserve students who came by was absolute nonsense anyway. A lot of insults where thrown about surrounding her dealings with degenerate scum, and how she was just a rowdy trouble maker. As for Angie, she was pretty sure none of the rumours got to her, she was convinced the girl was completely oblivious to the entire world, but there were still accusations of cultish behaviours from her, as well as criticising the fact that she paints in the gym. And while Tenko wasn’t crazy about Angie or anything, having strangers insult her really riled her up for some reason. She could only really find solace in the fact that the Student Council President used the school gym a lot, and as such would give a verbal smack down to the gossipers who came to the gym to do only that. For a degenerate male, he wasn’t so bad. 

“Okay Tenko, we’re done for the day!” Angie clapped her hand together, whilst Tenko groaned from how stiff her body had become. 

“Ugh, finally. That felt like it took forever... so, Himiko, did I look cool?”

“... I got tired just watching you.”

Tenko cooed as Himiko yawned, ogling the adorable face she made as she did so. “Ah, thank you! You should see me when I’m actually training, I’m sure you’d feel amazing. Would you like to train with me sometime?”

The deadpan expression Himiko gave in return was enough of an answer for Tenko. But before she could follow up, Angie butted back in. “Now now Tenko, you need to go change. We have a busy afternoon ahead of us after all.”

“Huh? Why? I just wanna see the painting and train a bit before going back to the dorms.”

Angie shook her head, before leaning forward, a vaguely threatening shadow being cast over her eyes by her bangs. “Uh-uh Tenko. As it is my birthday today, that officially makes me your elder. And that means that you must do as I say! So, today, we are all going to go out and have fun!”

“What?! That’s not fair, you can’t do that!” But Tenko’s objections were quickly silenced by Himiko’s agreement to the impromptu event. “Can I at least see the painting I posed for?”

Again, Angie shook her head. “Nuh-uh, it isn’t finished yet. And everyone knows that judging a painting before it is finished is bad luck. So I’m going to go store this in the art room, you can go and get changed, and then we can have some group fun.”

Both Angie and Himiko made quick exits from the gym, leaving Tenko to wallow in her self pity. At least she’d get to spend the afternoon with Himiko.

There was something controlling about Angie’s behaviour that Tenko just didn’t like. Mostly she was worried about how that could adversely affect Himiko, but there was a grander scale problem. With Kaito in and out of school, Angie was basically considered the real oldest kid in class. She worried that Angie might try and extend her desire for control over their entire class. It was probably just her being paranoid, but something about the girl just didn’t sit right with Tenko, no matter how much she tried to accept Angie. Maybe she could get some advice from someone else in school?


	15. Chapter 13

Friday, April 19th

“Tenko... it’s too early for this...”

“But Himiko! I’m telling you, Angie is trouble! She’s way too controlling. Come on Himiko, I’m telling you this for your own good. Won’t you listen to your best friend?” By a stroke of luck, Tenko had managed to find Himiko before school without Angie around. It had been a rare occurrence as of late; Tenko felt that the two were practically glued at the hip most of the time. Despite that though, she was having severe trouble surpassing one of the greatest challenges she’d ever had to face- making Himiko listen to her.

“Nyeh... you aren’t my best friend.” She said it so nonchalantly, so definitively. It rocked Tenko to her core, but she’d stay strong! It wasn’t as if she hadn’t heard the same line a million times before. 

“You didn’t even hesitate! But how could anyone else be your best friend? Is it Angie? Am I really losing to her?” Well... maybe it bothered Tenko a little bit more than she was willing to admit. 

“... is that what this is really about?” Himiko may have been looking off to the side, but the scowl on her face was unmissable. “Tenko, just stop. You’re being unreasonable. Just leave Angie alone... Nyeh, you’re such a pain...” Taking advantage of Tenko’s temporary paralysis, Himiko hurried past her in a desperate bid to just get to morning registration. Actually, it was more like a brisk waddle, but that was still very fast for her. 

Tenko had been left to ponder over her own current state. She hated the fact that she got so emotional sometimes, especially so early in the morning, it set a sour mood for the day ahead. She’d always struggled to control her emotions, but wasn’t that why she did Neo Aikido? That was her channel, her outlet. But these weren’t feelings she could kick and punch away. She was always prepared to be shut down by Himiko, Tenko had always understood love to be a tricky and tedious affair, which is why she was so confused as to why it was hurting so much now. The only thing that was different was the whole Angie situation... yeah, that must be it. 

Very rarely did Tenko skip out on morning registration even though it was technically allowed, but today she went straight to the gym. 

Tenko groaned as her back collided with one of the gym mats for what felt like the hundredth time. 

“What’s wrong Tenko? Do you need a break? All of your movements have been sloppy today, easy to read.”

Tenko leaned up from her place on the floor, crossing her legs and putting her head in her hands. “Sorry Sakura... I’m just going through some stuff is all. Relationships troubles, that sort of thing...”

Sakura joined Tenko on the floor, mimicking her position, a gentle smile on her rugged face. “Would you like to talk about it? I do not consider myself to be a person who can give good advice, but I too have struggled with relationships in the past. Perhaps I can help you.”

Looking up from her hands, a slight smile tugged on Tenko’s lips. “Really? You don’t think I’m just being dumb? You’ll listen?” The solemn nod Sakura gave her filled Tenko with a new fire. Perhaps the best way for her to sort out her emotions this time would just be to talk. “Okay, so... there’s this girl in my class, and she’s being super controlling. Like... like she thinks she’s some kind of great leader, or something. And... and it’s just really bugging me for some reason...” As soon as she’d finished, she began to bashfully play with her fingers. “Eh-heh-heh-heh... pretty dumb, right?”

Sakura’s expression never faltered, but she shook her head in opposition to Tenko’s fears. “No, it is not a stupid concern to have. While I haven’t known you for very long, nor do I know much about your personal life, I can say for certain that you have very strong convictions. Let me ask you, do you hate this girl?” Tenko thought for a moment, settling on a hesitant ‘no’. “Then I believe your concern is rooted in your doubt of the girls abilities. Unfortunately Tenko, you are quick to judge. It is just in your nature. You cannot act upon rash judgements.”

“B-but, what if I’m right? What if she is corrupt, and she’s going to steer my class down a slippery slope of failure and degeneracy!”

“Then you will take action if she does, won’t you? Again, I feel you must not act so rashly. I can tell this is a fairly new issue for you, you were not so burdened when we sparred last week. Give it time Tenko. This feels similar to what I advised you to do about Nekomaru and Kiyotaka, no? When you felt they were inappropriately positioned, it simply took time for you to understand why they are trusted. I very rarely hear you call either ‘degenerates’ anymore. You quite affectionately refer to Nekomaru as Coach, do you not? You are not the first stubborn one to refer to him as such, and you will not be the last.”

Tenko sat in silence. She knew Sakura wasn’t wrong, but her feelings about Angie were different to her opinions on the two boys who used the gym with her. They were completely different beasts. Still... “Thank you for the advice Sakura... I think I’m going to take a break for the rest of today. I’m sorry our training was kinda pointless today...” Picking herself up, Tenko gave Sakura a polite bow. 

Despite the advice though, Tenko believed immediate action had to be taken. Is there a more effective way of striking down evil than targeting it before it does anything to harm anyone? Of course there isn’t! Sakura was certainly correct about her strong convictions, and she knew what she wanted to do, what she felt had to be done. 

But Tenko soon began to regret her resolve, the excited whispers she heard from the Reserve Course students sounded more maliciously inclined than grateful when Tenko challenged Angie to an Aikido match.

It had spiralled so fast, and now all she was hearing was talk of how ‘the lesbian and the cultist are going to fight it out tomorrow!’

It was just after 11PM that Hajime heard the tell-tale knock on the door to the tech lab. Makoto was here, which meant that it was time dive back into the NWP. 

That afternoon, they’d discussed what little information Hajime had gotten out of Miu, and they’d decided that today they would only investigate a small part of the island, and see if they could get anything out of Usami. 

Letting Makoto in, the two immediately headed for the screen in the centre of the room. “Hey, Hajime? Can I touch the screen? I wanna check something.”

Giving Makoto permission to do so, he raised his hand to the screen... and it phased right through, the ripples they’d both seen before coursing across the screen. “Hmm... what do you make of that Hajime? If I can do the same thing as you could before, why could you do it at all the first time?”

They both knew Hajime wouldn’t have the answer to that one. Another mystery for the hefty pile they were accumulating. “I guess we can try to ask Usami? I doubt she’d know, but for now she’s our only good source of information, considering the dud Miu turned out to be.”

“Yeah...” There was an undeniable fear in the air, the pair were well aware of the dangers that might have been waiting for them. But they’d resolved to do this, there was little point in backing out now...

Instead of the beach, as last time, Hajime found himself in the park where he fought his Shadow. And, differently again, Makoto was actually with him this time. Speaking of, he never actually asked Makoto where he woke up last time. But before he could raise his question, Makoto kind of answered it for him. “Huh? This isn’t where I started out last time...”

“Yeah, me either. I woke up on the beach on the first island. Did you wake up on this one?”

Makoto nodded. “I did. But I was by this giant gate, not here... I wonder why we started in a different spot to before?”

Another good question that neither could answer. “Hey, let’s check out that gate first then. Scope that out. Then we can investigate whatever we haven’t already seen on that first island with the log-off point. Sound good?”

With a simple ‘uh-huh’ from Makoto, the pair made their way out of the central park, and Makoto began to lead the way to the iron gate he’d first woken up by. 

When the two actually arrived though, the ‘gate’ was so much bigger than that word implied. It was more like a sturdy iron wall. It came descending out of a stone arch, the number two clearly visible on its brow. Behind the gate was a bridge, a bridge that Hajime assumed would have lead them to one of the other surrounding islands. “Well... it’s certainly... it’s certainly something alright...” There was clearly no way to lift the gate, so all they were doing here was wasting their time. 

“Shoot... sorry Hajime, I thought it might have lifted by now... guess it’s something else we’ll just have to ask Usami.” Unfortunately, in the couple of minutes they’d actually been back inside, one avenue of interest had already been shot down. 

“I think it’ll be okay, the first island is quite large. At least, I think it is, and we haven’t really been anywhere on that one. I’m sure we’ll find something there. Right Makoto? ... Makoto?” For some reason, he wasn’t responding. Looking to him, Hajime’s stomach started to knot itself. Makoto wore a similarly pale expression as he had done two times before... when they had discovered a Shadow. But following Makoto’s line of sight, there was no human Shadow to be found. No, instead there was one of the beasts that replaced those humanoid Shadows. 

This one walked on eight or nine bright red legs, the ends of which bore sharpened tips, giving the legs a resemblance to knives or daggers. The weaponised legs led into what would probably be called the head of the monster, though it didn’t look much like one. The ball at the centre of the legs was a bright yellow, buzzing with an electric pulse. Standing erect from the centralised head was a limb similar in appearance to the legs, but at its tip was instead an eye, or rather something resembling an eye. In actuality, it bore more resemblance to a camera lens than an eye, the way it visibly focused and rotated around mechanically... rotating to lock onto Hajime and Makoto.

Hajime felt his pulse quicken rapidly. He hadn’t brought a weapon with him. Although he had his Persona for defence, he couldn’t attack as he had in previous battles without hurting himself. Makoto evidently had the opposite problem. He’d already brandished the same knife as last time, but he had no Persona to back him up. 

“R-run!” A squeaky voice rang out from behind them, relieving at least a tiny bit of tension. Turning their heads, the two saw Usami waving at them, though she wasn’t approaching. And as soon as they turned back, they realised why. The Shadow was charging at them, moving at a speed that none of their previous enemies could have ever hoped to match. 

Both started running, screams of fear cascading out of their mouths as they sprinted as fast as they could towards Usami. But she was running towards them now... why would she do that? Did she have a death wish?!

A cold sweat ran down Hajime’s spine as he turned his head, wishing to confirm his fear. And the wave of anxiety that engulfed him when he did was near vomit inducing. The Shadow had already caught up, and was prepared to strike! And it was aiming for him!

The knife like limb pierced the ground between Hajime and Makoto, but even though it missed, the sheer speed at which the leg moved created a gust that knocked Hajime down. 

Makoto realised all too late that they were being attacked, but he luckily avoided any injury when the strike landed near him. Hajime was not so lucky. Makoto had stopped dead in his tracks, but he didn’t know what to do. The same fear he’d held when he saw Hajime in the same position before overwhelmed him. And again... he felt there was nothing he could do...

The monster aimed a finishing strike at Hajime, who summoned his Persona at what may well have been the last second, the Shadow’s leg failing to pierce the front of the chariot Herakles rode, the lion head acting as an impromptu shield. 

It was only then that Makoto realised Hajime didn’t have a weapon, so while his Persona was stuck defending him, he couldn’t do much to get away or fight back. His hands quivered around the handle of Mukuro’s knife. He was mentally scolding himself for being such a coward, even now, and that was when Usami sped past him, jumping into the corkscrew she’d used on the Shadows last time. 

But when she hit the head, she let out a screech of pain, electricity visibly charging through her body. “Usami!” Makoto cried out, but he knew that was pointless. He was powerless as he watched the leg dig further into Herakles, and Usami be flung back towards him, her fur stood on end as an electric charge still pulsed through her.

It was hopeless... what could he do...? 

No... no that’s what he would’ve said before, before he faced his Shadow. Before he vowed to be a hero. Now was the time to make a new vow. “Don’t worry Hajime... I’ll save you...” It was whispered under his breath, but it was the final blast of conviction he needed. 

Filling his lungs with air, he shouted as loud as he could, with authority he didn’t know he could command. “HEY! LEAVE MY FRIEND ALONE!” His own knife was raised, pointed challengingly at the spider-like Shadow. But he couldn’t hold onto that knife for long, as a searing pain shot through his head. His now free hands shot up to the sides of his head, fingers digging into his skull. He felt his body hunch over in pain, his knees buckling... all as a voice echoed throughout his mind. 

“I am thou... thou art I...”

Makoto’s heart was pounding, a ringing blasting through his ear drums. But in a snap, everything cleared. A wave of calm soaked him through to his soul, as if all the fear and negativity had leaked out of him.

“PERSONA!”

Surging from Makoto in a blue light, a large chest materialised. In fact, it took the appearance of a very archetypical treasure chest, golden hinges, corners and ornamentation decorating the main body. Flicks of other bright colours marked the chest, distinct reds, greens, blues and yellows, ornamenting the piece with the likenesses of fire, wind, ice, and electricity. 

“Let’s give this Shadow hell, open up Pandora!”

The ethereal chest lid swung open, aiming its open body at the head of the Shadow, before a comically oversized, spring-loaded boxing glove shot out from within, knocking the Shadow over, and shattering its lens-like eye. 

Upon the return of the chest, what had been the spring had shifted into what would have been its standard internal form, a featureless, yet decidedly feminine, wraith coloured a calming lavender. The way it hung out of the chest gave it the look of what would have been the tongue of a Mimic-type enemy, its torso facing downwards as it spilled out from the box, with its shoulders and head facing forward, hands folded under its chin.

Now free, Hajime ran to Makoto’s side while the Shadow was struggling to lift itself. “Thanks Makoto, I owe you one. And it looks like you got that Persona you were so excited about.”

By now, Usami had flipped herself upright again, the shock mostly having left her body. “Oh, I-I know! Can either of you use wind attacks?” Makoto was blank faced, but Hajime gave a hesitant nod. “Okay then, strike the head of that Shadow with a wind attack Hajime. That should be a super effective attack!”

Hajime didn’t know what made Usami so certain, but now wasn’t the time to doubt her. He concentrated, ready to strike the still staggering Shadow, when Makoto called out to him. “Wait Hajime! While we’ve got the time, let me try something, then you go in for the attack.” Again, Hajime wasn’t sure what that meant, but as Makoto summoned Pandora, he felt a surge of power in himself. “T-there... I think I just gave you a boost to your physical strength. I-if that went how I thought it should.”

Nodding, Hajime continued to focus, and as soon as the Shadow regained its footing, he unleashed Garu, the gust being just as effective as Usami had suggested, as the spider collided with the ground once again. “Well done Hajime! Now let’s go Makoto, while it’s down, we can go for an All-Out Attack!” 

Just as they had done last time (minus Hajime since he had no weapon), Usami and Makoto charged at the Shadow, their flurry of attacks on the defenceless monster proving fatal. As they leapt away, the Shadow released a wail eerily similar to a human crying, but it didn’t disappear like usual. This time, it simply melted into sludge, gradually fading away into nothing. No human Shadow was left behind. And that was something both Hajime and Makoto took quick notice of. 

Hajime was first to pipe up about it to Usami as the two jogged back to him. “Hey Usami, why didn’t that Shadow turn into... or back into, a human Shadow form? We didn’t, like, hurt it too much, did we?”

The question seemed to catch Usami by surprise, as she began to squirm on the spot, unable to meet Hajime’s eyes. “W-well... that’s because... uhhhhhh, because the person that Shadow belonged to is... already dead...”

Hajime and Makoto quickly, and fearfully, glanced to each other, Hajime stuttering his follow up. “D-dead? Usami, please, can you tell us what this person looked like? Any defining characteristics?” Unfortunately, Usami shook her head. So no... damn it!

“I-I’m sorry... I didn’t really get a good look at them. I wanted to approach them, but their Shadow monster started chasing me. By the time I came back after shaking the Shadow off... they were gone...” The absence of information was annoying, but it had confirmed at least one thing. Someone had been killed in here. And to Hajime, if one was killed in here, then the other two murders could have been linked to this place too.

“W-wait, are you sure they were dead Usami? They could’ve just been hurt, then ran away whilst their Shadow was chasing you... no?” Makoto raised a good point, it’s not as if they knew. The body going missing was a wrench in the basis of his theory. 

But Usami shook her head, certain that she was right. “No, I’m sure the person was dead! I may not be able to see much from down here, but I can identify a game over from just about anywhere. Ah! I’m sorry, I shouldn’t sound so carefree when speaking of someone’s death.”

Once more, Hajime and Makoto shared nervous and fearful glances with each other. They were right to think that something was going on behind closed doors with the NWP, but they were terrified at the prospects of what the truth may be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case someone wants to pick me up on it, or if you didn’t know, I’m aware that Pandora’s Box was not originally a box. For the sake of personal preference, I just like ‘Pandora’s Box’ more than ‘Pandora’s Fancy Jar’.


	16. Chapter 14

Saturday, April 20th

The only thing Hajime had heard about all day was that some fight was going to happen after school between two Ultimates. It really didn’t take much for the Reserve Course to run into gossip overdrive. 

Apparently there’d been a big show of the announcement too, one girl caught another by the school entrance and challenged her to a fight of some sort. Hajime had no idea why, or if what he was hearing about was actually the truth, but he’d heard some interesting rumours fly around about the reasoning behind the fight...

“Yeah, so, like, the butch girl in the first year is totes tryin’ to impress this weird midget. Seriously, and the art girl is just part of the stunt, she’s gonna go down easy, and the other one is gonna use it to prove how buff she is to the magic chick, or somethin’ like that...”

“Dude, I’m tellin’ ya, those two are competing for top dog amongst the first years. It’ll be a fight to the death, winner takes the crown..!”

“No way! Are you telling me aikido girl has a crush on that cultist? So she wants to fight just so she can get all over her in public? Eww, she’s so gross! Do wonder she knows so much about degenerates...”

Stuff like that. Honestly, with how ridiculous the rumours were, Hajime almost found himself compelled to check out the fight like most of the other students were going to. But no, he had already agreed to meet with Makoto after school, they needed to discuss what they’d learnt last night. Urgently. Apparently there was a nice little cafe nearby, and that’s where they were going to meet today. He wasn’t particularly sure why, but Makoto seemed excited about it when he’d suggested they go there. 

By the time Hajime arrived at the cafe, Makoto had already been there for nearly an hour. “You know Makoto, directions would have been nice. ‘Nearby’ isn’t enough to go on.”

“Ah, right, I’m sorry. I should’ve been more specific, but I didn’t really know how to describe where this is. It might be a bit over due, but do you want to trade numbers? It’ll make contacting each other much easier, and might help us in situations like this when we hang out.” At least he seemed genuinely apologetic. Really, Hajime was just kind of joking with him, but the apology felt so serious that he didn’t want to burst Makoto’s bubble. 

So after trading contact information, they got down to business. “So, I think it’s safe to say we didn’t get many answers, and just a ton more questions. Usami doesn’t know anything about raising those gates, she doesn’t know anything about why our entry points changed, and even though she gave us that information about the person who died in the NWP... that’s all we know. Someone died there.”

Makoto solemnly nodded. “Yeah... so of the two murders, it seems likely that one of them at least was killed by their Shadow, right?” Oh... right, Makoto didn’t know about Miaya yet, did he...

“Actually... there’s a bit of a problem with that...” Hajime leaned over the table the pair were sat at, and whispered in hopes no one else could hear him. “There’s been another murder since. Ms. Miaya Gekkogahara. I don’t know why, but I think the school has swept it under the rug so far...”

Makoto’s face paled, his thumb rubbing his chin. “Oh... really? I can’t believe Kyoko didn’t tell me that... how did you find out?” He was making a poor attempt at remaining calm, but it was serviceable enough. 

It wasn’t particularly an experience Hajime wanted to revisit, but it needed to be said. “I was the one who found the body. Other than me and the two detectives, I don’t think any other students know. Miu thought she just decided to leave the project behind, and I haven’t heard a peep about it from any kids in the Reserve Course.”

“So in the end, all we’ve really got from Usami is some news about Shadows.”

“Yeah. And even then, it’s not much. We do know that if a person dies, that doesn’t erase their Shadow. At least, not when it has become a monster. I guess she also told us about those smaller Shadows, though. The ones that generally roam the islands. I can’t believe we haven’t seen any yet, and that’s only been by dumb luck...”

It didn’t seem like Makoto was completely listening. He was staring down at the table, he had been since Hajime had whispered to him. “Hey... I think I remember something... last Sunday I was, uh, in school again, and I met this guy in the tech lab. He asked if I’d seen Miaya and said that he hadn’t been able to contact her for a few days... and if I’m remembering right, Kyoko told me that the first victim went missing for a few days before their body was discovered... Hajime, do you think that’s it? Do you think that’s what we needed? Our big link for all the crimes?”

“Maybe...” If Makoto was telling the truth, then this was a massive find. Setting aside why Makoto would be in the school on Sunday, that chance encounter with who he assumed must have been Yasuke might end up being the linchpin that held together their suspicions. And he was right about Natsumi, he could vaguely recall that she had been absent for a few days before her body was found. The only point of contention was Sato... “I think it’s too soon to say for sure, but my gut is telling me we’re right. If you can, ask Kyoko for some details on the second victim though, as is, we don’t know much about her death. We’ll have to go back in soon anyway, we need to check out the rest of the first island. Hopefully we don’t run into any more Shadows that halt our progress for the night...”

Makoto firmly nodded his head. “Yeah... it would be nice to have an extra teammate so we don’t wear ourselves so thin, but I wouldn’t want to get anyone involved who doesn’t have to be. I’ll see about Kyoko, but I don’t know if I’ll turn up anything. With that in mind, shall we go back on Tuesday next week? It’ll give me time to talk to Kyoko, and maybe something will come up for you too.”

“Okay, sounds like a plan. I wouldn’t put too much faith in Miu, but I’ll see what I can get out of her...” Though he hoped he wouldn’t get himself killed in the process... the exchange of him testing her inventions for intel was a fair trade, but that was only because he didn’t know what she would throw at him...

Makoto leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms out, letting out a small yawn as he did. “Ah, wow, all this NWP stuff gets me real tired. Hey, Hajime, would you want to hang out tomorrow? Just forget about the murder stuff for a day, and hang out like normal people? I spend most of my Sunday’s at the local arcade, if you want to go.”

Smiling, Hajime nodded. “Hang out? Okay, I don’t have a problem with that. But, maybe give me some actual directions this time.”

Makoto chuckled to himself, a lighthearted smile finally crossing his face. “Alright, geez, I’ll try and not make that mistake again. Wouldn’t want you to be an hour late. Actually, why not just come and meet me at my dorm? We can go together.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t mind? In that case, I’ll come to you tomorrow. I’m already looking forward to it!”

Tenko’s breath was heavy. She hadn’t even started the fight and she was exhausted. Not physically mind you, but mentally she was so taxed she felt like she was going to die. It was like having stage fright. She knew publicly asking Angie to fight her was a bad idea, and now it felt like half the school had turned up to watch. 

Officially, it was just a bit of training, but none of the Reserve kids understood that. Tenko hoped that was why so few Ultimates had shown up. Aside from Coach Nekomaru, who had agreed to act as something like the referee for the match, Akane was probably the only other Ultimate present, and that was only because she liked a good fight. For potentially the only time since she’d met her, Tenko was ecstatic that Himiko wouldn’t be present for one of her fights, she had a prior engagement with one of her other friends, this ‘role playing’ thing. 

She wished that she could just pretend this wasn’t happening, that she hadn’t acted so soon, or at least so publicly. Sure, a part of her did want to flip Angie onto the floor a couple hundred times, but not for an audience. Especially not for an audience...

Everyone in the room knew how this was going to go anyway. Angie was built like a twig, and it was clear that she had no idea how to do aikido. The keikogi hung very loose around her frail body, and she was wearing her hakama backwards. Everyone knew Tenko would win in a matter of seconds, but still this many people who were completely uninvolved came to watch...

Maybe Angie wasn’t the most corrupt thing in the school after all...

Tenko was so busy in her own head that she hadn’t even heard Nekomaru blow his whistle, but it didn’t really matter, Angie wasn’t making any moves while she was distracted. In fact, she looked pretty distracted herself, her usual vacant smile plastered over her face as she just danced around on the mats. 

As soon as Tenko noticed that though, she turned away. Was she really going to do this? She prided herself on her valorous spirit and sense of justice... and she was about to destroy a defenceless girl over what? The fact that she might have some control issues? Sakura was right, of course she had been right. Tenko had acted too hastily, she knew that, and now she was paying for it. What should she do? What could she do? Throw her pride away and let Angie win? Or throw away her sense of self and beat Angie? What was this fight even for anyway? She didn’t tell Angie anything particular, she just haphazardly challenged her. 

Oh... she’d just been blind, hadn’t she? If she had been more reasonable, she could have just talked to Angie, she should’ve just talked to Angie. Like what she did with Sakura, we should’ve vented her emotions by telling Angie how she felt. Because now she had initiated a fight just because she wanted to vent. 

Tenko had never felt quite like this before. She constantly ran on a wide spectrum of emotion, but in that moment she began to feel something mostly alien to her... was it shame? Was it a lack of motivation? Self doubt? She felt sick, her palms were clammy in a way that was entirely different to how they would feel after a workout, her vision hazy and bike riding in her throat. 

“Tenko? Are you okay? You look-“ As soon as Angie laid her hand on Tenko’s shoulder, Tenko instinctively twirled, and stuck out with her right leg. Hard. 

It was a blink and you miss it moment, but with blinding speed Angie’s body shot across the room, luckily landing just before the edge of the mat. The Reserve audience burst into a mix of raucous cheers, boos, and laughter, but the only thing Tenko could hear was the cracking sound Angie’s torso had made when her foot connected with her fragile body. 

She felt dizzy, her nausea flooding her mind and body again. The whole world was spinning, all of it, except for Angie. She was slowly lifting her self up into a sitting position, but the look on her face was one Tenko had never seen her with before. It was a hodgepodge of fear and confusion, but most noticeably a blinding pain. The first time Tenko had seen Angie frown... sincerely, earnestly frown... was all because of her...

She snapped back into reality when she heard Nekomaru’s bellowing shouts for everyone to leave the gym, his whistle ringing in her ears, almost overpowering the crunch that was still playing on repeat in her head. “Tenko! TENKO! What are you doing?! Help her up and take her to the nurses office! We’ll talk about this later, come back here after you’ve helped her.” It wasn’t often Nekomaru frowned like he did now. It must’ve been the first time Tenko had ever seen him look at her with such overwhelming disappointment in his eyes. 

“‘Ooooh, what were you thinking Tenko!’ ‘You really let yourself down Tenko!’ ‘I expected more from you Tenko!’ ‘You need to work on your sportsmanship Tenko!’ Ugh, for crying out loud, it was just a mistake! Just one little mistake!” By the time Tenko had started to head back to the dorms, night had started to fall, the first few stars appearing in the sky. Only a handful of students were still inside the school at this point, and they’d be heading back to the dorms soon, but while Tenko was alone, making the walk from the entrance of the school building to the front gates, she fully appreciated the loneliness. 

She didn’t want anyone else watching her breakdown. 

Her tie hung loose around her neck, the buttons of her school jacket and cardigan undone despite the cold evening air. After Nekomaru gave her a thorough ‘discussion’ on what Tenko did wrong today, she was at her last straw. Partially still with Angie, but mostly she was upset with herself. She’d hurt someone, someone she would ultimately consider a friend. And over what? Some petty pride problem?

She hadn’t spent long in the nurses office, but she’d stayed long enough for Mikan to tell her that Angie likely had a broken rib or two. It felt awful, that feeling of nausea had stayed with her until even now. 

What was wrong with her? Why did she act like this all the time? She was supposed to have mastered her emotions, wasn’t that why she’d been sent of by her parents to learn Neo Aikido anyway? And now look at her, that troublesome inability to control herself had severely hurt someone... she hadn’t grown up at all, she was still that overly emotional little girl that made life for everyone around her more difficult. 

She wasn’t sure when, but Tenko had stopped walking before she reached the gate. Her head was hung low. She could feel the hot tears streaming down her face as her chest heaved, a gasp followed by a whine of sorrow permeating the empty area. “I-I-I’m s-so s-s-sorry... A-Angie... I-I’ve let e-every... everyone down... I-I’m such a f-failure...”

In her state, Tenko hadn’t heard the footsteps that were running towards her from behind. If she had, maybe she would’ve reacted when a cloth was clamped over her mouth, and a hand grasped her neck. Her choking gasps from crying were only worsened by her actual choking, and that allowed the vapour on the cloth much easier access to her body. Not that it needed to, the suffocation was doing the job just fine. 

That familiar feeling of dizziness finally caught up with her, as her already blurred vision faded to nothingness.


	17. Chapter 15

Sunday, April 21st

Himiko couldn’t believe that she was the one knocking on Tenko’s door for once. She wasn’t even really sure why she was doing it. It was just that last night she’d gotten a weird feeling... not that she hurried out to act on it or anything, it was approaching midday already. Granted she’d only been awake for around an hour or two, but still, she hadn’t jumped out of bed to come running to Tenko’s door. 

Or... had she? Having Tenko around her all day on Sunday was just part of her routine now, so for Tenko to suddenly be absent from that schedule felt wrong. Hmm... didn’t she say she was doing something after school yesterday? What was it? Something sporty probably, so maybe Tenko just went somewhere to do some working out today instead of hang around her and Angie. 

Speaking of, Himiko hadn’t been able to find Angie either. Though that wasn’t necessarily uncommon, there were times Angie would hide away in either her dorm or the art studio so that she could paint for hours, sometimes even days, on end. 

“Nyeh... Tenko... it’s me, Himiko... are you in?” When there was no reply to even that, Himiko stopped her tapping on Tenko’s door. She was well aware that if Tenko was in, she would have come bursting through the door by now, so she must’ve just already left to go do something. 

But had she? It didn’t seem right for Tenko to do anything without telling her first, it was really out of character for her. Or maybe she did, and Himiko just couldn’t remember? Yeah... that must’ve been it...

In a more somber mood than she’d woken up in, Himiko flopped down on one of the sofas in the dorm lounge by the entrance. Himiko hadn’t really ever thought about it before, but without Angie and Tenko she was quite lonely. It wasn’t as if she had no other friends, it was just that she spent so much time, willingly or not, with those two that they were basically the most important people in her life. And without them...

That’s when she saw two of her other classmates. And they both saw her. Though to be honest, she wished no one had made eye contact, considering the circumstances and who they were. 

Himiko has become quite jealous of Shuichi and Kaito, the friendship and camaraderie between the two was well known in their class, and it didn’t stop with just the two of them. Their little duo seemed to be gradually expanding into a group. It was actually quite impressive that those two had managed to become such good friends with a popular girl like Kaede, and even more astoundingly was the fact that they had become friends with Maki. Himiko wished she could have something like that. Again, she had friends, but none of her friendships felt like they were as pure as the bonds Kaito and Shuichi forged. It sometimes felt like Angie and Tenko were just using her. Not necessarily maliciously, Tenko would never do something like that, not to her, but it still sometimes felt like Tenko only hung around and acted the way she did to fulfil some kind of status quo.

Maybe she just wanted to be swept up in their bubble as well...

“Hey Himiko! You look down, what’s wrong? It’s pretty damn rare to see you by yourself.” Of course Kaito had been the first to initiate conversation. Himiko first figured she’d just dismiss him, but then she stumbled upon an idea. 

“Oh... yeah, I’m okay. But now that you mention it, I haven’t seen Tenko all day... that hasn’t happened in a long time, and she didn’t tell me where she was going so I’m a little worried...” Kaito looked back at Shuichi, and promptly dragged him over. 

“Tenko’s missing? Well, good thing we have a brilliant detective as our friend, right bro?” Shuichi mumbled a shy response, probably trying to humble himself or stay modest. “We were going to get some lunch together, but we can put that on hold. We can all ask around together, and see if we can find where Tenko’s gone today. And hey, if we don’t find her, wanna join us for lunch? Food tastes even better with company!”

The expression Himiko wore on her face after Kaito’s invitation should’ve been one of surprise or even joy, but she ended up just deadpanning him, just as she usually found herself doing whenever people talked to her. “Nyeh... sounds like a pain... but I guess I can do that. My MP is a little low, so I wasn’t able to locate Tenko by myself... and if I eat with you two, I’ll probably restore some of my MP at least...”

Kaito rubbed the back of his head, though he actually managed to display the confusion on his face that Himiko would never be able to replicate. “Uhhh, I don’t really get what you just said, but I definitely heard that you’d come with us! So don’t worry about a thing!” The slightly exasperated face Shuichi was making as Kaito beamed at Himiko was one she wished she could replicate; it pretty accurately summed up how she was feeling about this. Apparently her Sunday was going to be just as loud as it usually was...

“So... why did you decide to wear a school uniform today?”

“Oh, come on, like you’re any different. Yeah you’ve got that hoodie, but otherwise you’re just wearing a school uniform too.”

“Yeah... well... okay, you got me...” Both Hajime and Makoto laughed as they walked down the street. Even though it wasn’t the first time they’d hung out, this was the first time that everything felt casual, the stress of the NWP not on their minds for once. 

“What kind of games do you like to play?” Hajime couldn’t believe he hadn’t asked that before really, it seemed like a fairly important question considering they were hanging out together. 

“Ah, I don’t really have any favourites, but I do love crane game’s, and those, like, roulette games that give you tokens? I like those too.”

“Oh course you do, those are all luck based games...” Maybe Makoto was always destined to be the Ultimate Lucky Student after all? 

“What? Hey, come on, there is a fine skill in mastering the crane game.”

“What, asking the employees to move the prizes and make it easier? A fine skill you’ve got there.”

“Hey! You know that’s not-“

“Makoto! Hey!” Both of their eyes snapped towards the source of the voice, just down the road, outside the arcade, a girl with a brown bob haircut, wearing what also looked like a school uniform, was waving to them, or more precisely Makoto, as she’d called out. Makoto waved back, and cocked his head at Hajime as he sped into a light jog to meet the girl. 

“Sorry Hajime, I guess I forgot to mention this. This is my sister, Komaru. We sometimes hang out together on Sunday’s, since we don’t really see each other much otherwise. I hope you don’t mind having some extra company...”

Hajime shook his head, offering his hand out to Komaru. “No, of course. I’m Hajime Hinata, by the way. It’s a pleasure to meet Makoto’s big sister.”

Komaru barely stifled a laugh as she shook Hajime’s hand. “Umm, actually, it’s the other way around, I’m the younger sibling here.”

Hajime looked between the two Naegi siblings, a slightly puzzled expression on his face. “Wait, really? But... Makoto, your little sister is taller than you...”

“Ah, not by much though! She’s barely got a few centimetres on me, I’ll catch up soon.” The cheek Makoto was scratching was turning a light shade of pink. Seems he was embarrassed about his height thing, probably didn’t help that Hajime was significantly taller than both of them too, it really made Makoto look like the kid brother here. Komaru seemed to find the whole thing funny at least, she hadn’t stopped herself from giggling.

“S-sorry...? I dunno, I guess I also just saw the fingerless gloves and assumed you had a motorcycle or something. It gives you a more mature air than Makoto anyway.”

“Oh, these?” Komaru struck her hand out, splaying her fingers wide, clearly trying to show off the gloves. “Actually, I only wear them so I have better grip on the guns in the arcade. If it’s someone else’s sweat or my own, it can’t bother me with these babies!” Right... so they were just used as protection from sweat when playing then? That was a bit extreme, wasn’t it? Was she some kind of clean freak?

Makoto began mumbling in a huff, either feeling a bit left out, or still embarrassed. Probably a bit of both. “How can you put effort into gloves, but wear your school uniform out and about? Plus, it’s bit hypocritical for you to wear clothes two days in a row, I’m sure if a certain someone else did that you’d get mad at them...”

This time it was Komaru’s cheeks that faded to a light pink, but Hajime wasn’t entirely sure what they were arguing about now, it seemed like there was a piece of a story he was missing here... “Well I’m sorry that the only set of clothing I had available was the uniform I wear if I need to go to cram school! I would never wear a pair of clothes two days in a row, I take hygiene very seriously you know.”

“Uh, guys?” Hajime was eager to stop the sibling spat before it actually became a fight, but it didn’t seem like he had anything to worry about at the end of the day. As soon as they seemed to remember he was even there, they quickly apologised, and were back to grinning in no time. 

“I’m going to go play some games by myself for a bit, okay? Have fun together, but don’t leave without me this time, alright Makoto? Maybe we can all play something together later too. A rhythm game maybe?” Komaru wasted no time in hurrying inside, and the two boys soon lost her as she scurried deep into the arcade. 

“She’s certainly energetic, isn’t she? So, are we going to start with some claw machines? They’re right at the front, and I’m interested in seeing these ‘skills’ you’ve developed playing so much of this stuff.” Makoto puffed his chest out, hands on his hips as he confidently smirked.

“Alright Hajime, how about we have a little competition then? It’ll be fun. Let’s see... alright, let’s see who can win the most stuff from the claw machines. We’ll limit ourselves to... 2000 yen each, that alright?”

Hajime wasn’t particularly confident in his abilities, he was far from seasoned at arcade style games, generally the only games that he played were on consoles, but he was certainly up for the challenge. And that was how he ended up spending a chunk of his afternoon playing crane games in a competition with Makoto.

...

“...you get nothing too?”

“...yep...”

After a short while of crane-gaming, the pair were both 2000 yen poorer, and with nothing to show for it. So much for competition... “Wanna just go look for your sister?”

Makoto slowly nodded his head, an annoyed frown on his face. “Shoot, I can’t believe that we had that bad a time with the machines today. That’s seriously unlucky...”

Hajime cocked his head to the side as he shrugged. “I guess. But maybe you could call it good luck. We can’t leave our contest at a tie, can we? So now we’ve got ourselves a reason to come back here together.”

Makoto’s frown quickly flipped into his more familiar smile. “Yeah, you’re right! Wanna do this again next week? Same rules?”

Folding his arms, Hajime smirked, leaning down to be more at eye level with Makoto. “You’re on.”

‘You feel your relationship with Makoto has grown deeper...’

The Makoto Naegi Social Link has reached Rank 2.

What had been planned as a group lunch had managed to turn into something close to a friendly dinner by the time Shuichi, Kaito, and Himiko had asked around about Tenko. 

“I’m sorry we couldn’t find out where Tenko was. I-I’d imagine that she’s safe, but if you don’t see her tomorrow, please tell me, okay? I’m handling a couple of cases at the moment, but if she’s gone missing I’ll make finding Tenko my top priority.” Shuichi really didn’t want to mention that a big reason why he’d want to find her is to make sure she doesn’t end up another victim. Although he had a hard time believing anyone could put Tenko down, he was trying to catch a murderer who could kill through unknown means. In his mind, no one was safe. 

Shuichi wasn’t sure why, but Kaito had ditched him and Himiko upon their return to the dorms, and sent him off to escort Himiko back to her room. Even then, Kaito had only gone around a corner, Shuichi had even seen him flashing a grin and thumbs up while he was walking with Himiko. What had he been doing? Though ultimately, Shuichi felt that escorting Himiko might’ve been for the best, just in case of a... of a worst case scenario. But then again, what could he do to protect Himiko if they ran into trouble? Kaito would’ve been much better for the job. Besides, what could happen in the space between the entrance and Himiko’s dorm room?

“Nyeh... it’s okay... I’m sure Tenko will turn up tomorrow... and even though it was kind of a pain... I did have fun today.” As she finished her dragged out sentences, Himiko’s face lit up with a dopey smile, one Shuichi found himself returning.

“Did you? I’m glad Kaito and I weren’t too much for you.”

“He can be an idiot sometimes...”

Shuichi quietly laughed, adjusting his hat as he felt as if someone was staring daggers at the two. Was Kaito getting mad they were calling him dumb? “We both had fun today too Himiko, after all of the talks with our classmates. W-well, umm... g-goodnight. Stay safe...” For some reason, Shuichi suddenly felt really awkward while he was standing with Himiko outside her dorm room. Pulling the rim of his hat over his eyes, he quickly shuffled away, back towards the lounge so he could go to the boys side of the dorm building and finally get some sleep. 

After spending the day with them, Himiko started to understand why people were drawn to Kaito and Shuichi. Individually they were definitely nice, but as a team they really brought out the best in each other, and in turn brought out the best in their friends. And, today, it felt like she was a part of that circle of friends. 

It gave Himiko a weird tingly feeling in her chest as she watched Shuichi walk away. It was a nice feeling, but she wasn’t sure why she’d continued to stand outside her dorm until Shuichi disappeared from her view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn’t particularly relevant for right now, but I figured I should ask while we’re still early in: should I add a list of the Social Link ranks in the notes of every chapter for the sake of keeping a registry, or maybe at the end of every in-universe week I put the ranks in the notes. I’m of course keeping track, but for the sake of all readers, present and future, would this be a good idea, or should I just not bother and keep the list to myself?


	18. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So after reading the comments, I’ve decided that on every in-universe Sunday I’ll add the list of Social Link ranks. I know that might be a bit annoying since Sunday was the last post, but there were only two links at that point, so I think that’s acceptable.

Monday, April 22nd

The knot in Shuichi’s stomach had only tightened since leaving Himiko last night, and now that she stood before him again his words from last night rang throughout his mind. The knot was getting tighter. 

“H-has Tenko not shown up to school today?” It was only a little after registration period, which meant that most Ultimates were off doing their own things to hone their talents, with a few attending the more standard types of classes. Recently, Shuichi’s only teachers had been Kyoko and the murder cases though. 

Himiko shook her head, the distress visible on her face. It was rare to see her emote so openly, but that only made Shuichi more uncomfortable, it reminded him that everything in his life seemed to be losing its normality, and not in a fun or quirky way either. “Nope... c-can... can I stay with you for today?”

It was probably in his best interest to turn her down, but... if ever there was one, shouldn’t this be the time to put his own emotions before his profession? Himiko was generally quite quiet anyway, he doubted she would be that big a distraction, so was there any reason not to allow her to be with him today? “Sure, you can stay with me, but I can’t promise you’ll have any fun today if you do.” Even with the deprecation, Himiko seemed quite eager to join him on his usual bench. With how close to him she sat, he had no doubt that her worry and fear must’ve been really getting to her. “Umm... have you heard from Angie? I’m surprised you didn’t choose to spend the day with her instead.”

Shuichi almost immediately regretted bringing her up, as the mere mention seemingly made Himiko cower even more than she already was. “I asked our homeroom teacher... apparently Angie’s taking some time out of school for health reasons... so she’s back in her dorm today...” That was news to him, he hoped Angie was going to be okay, but Tenko was a more pressing concern right now considering no one seemed to know where she was. 

Silence prevailed over the pair, and Shuichi ended up losing the time quite quickly. Unfortunately it wasn’t because he was absorbed in his notes though, instead his mind was on Himiko. He wasn’t certain how long they’d been sitting together, but she’d definitely gotten closer over the duration, she was practically clinging to his arm at this point. If the notion wasn’t accompanied by such a dour expression he might’ve been inclined to call it cute, but as things were it only made him anxious. At the very least, she had helped him come to a decision. “T-tomorrow... Himiko, if Tenko doesn’t turn up by tomorrow, I’ll head up an official investigation, okay?”

The way Himiko looked up at him was pitiful, her vacant eyes revealing just how lost she was with her current situation. But Shuichi completely understood. If even one of Kaito, Maki, or Kaede went missing he’d be so torn up that he probably wouldn’t even be able to eat without wanting to throw up, so for Himiko to essentially have both of her dearest friends missing must have been torturous. “Nyeh... okay Shuichi...” To him, she didn’t sound entirely satisfied, but he couldn’t blame her, if he were her, he’d want the investigation to go ahead immediately. But then... “... thank you...” She’d murmured it, but it was clear she wasn’t trying to say it discreetly. Was she embarrassed? Well, it didn’t matter. Her gratitude melted a fraction of the dread Shuichi had been feeling about the whole situation. 

Again Shuichi managed to lose himself in absolutely nothing, again losing track of how much time was really going by while he was accomplishing nothing. He had only been alerted to the passage of time when he began to hear a soft snore coming from right next to him, feeling a small head bump against his shoulder shortly after. 

Glancing over, he softly smiled at Himiko’s sleeping form. All that anxiety must’ve completely worn her out. Himiko had always struck him as the sleepy type anyway, so he really shouldn’t have been surprised. It was actually quite nice, her body was a welcome source of heat since the day had been colder than usual so far. 

For some reason, a piece of ‘advice’ he’d gotten from Kaito once popped into his head. Something about, in situations like this, a boy should give his coat to the girl. Although Shuichi had always assumed that sort of thing was reserved for couples, Himiko could probably do with a bit of extra warmth, he probably shouldn’t risk letting her catch a cold or something, if she got ill now she’d just end up even more isolated from the world than she was without her friends. Getting his jacket off without shaking her awake proved to be a slightly challenging endeavour, but he eventually managed it, and draped it over Himiko like a blanket. 

The reduced layers may have caused him to shiver, but the warm smile that had appeared on Himiko’s face made his comparably insignificant suffering worth it. 

Before Hajime had even entered the tech lab, he could hear shouting from inside. It sounded quite heated, but considering that the voice he could hear the clearest was Miu’s, he had a feeling that whatever the argument was over was probably either frivolous or absolutely pointless. 

As soon as he opened the door, he was pushed aside as Yasuke stormed out of the room. Hajime only caught a brief glimpse of him, but he noticed a dark bruise under his right eye. It looked pretty painful, and that’s when he looked to Miu, who was wearing a slightly off shape boxing glove. 

“Dare I even ask...” Even if he didn’t particularly want to involve himself in whatever Miu was doing, he did need to speak with her, though it was a gamble to assume that she could even help in any way. 

“Ugh, great, it’s you. You can fuck off, I’m not in the mood for testing out any inventions today.”

Well, that did mean he wouldn’t be making any progress, but it likely meant he’d live to see another day at least. “Oh, shame... What were you and Yasuke arguing about anyway?” This was going to open up a whole other can of worms, but if Miu started talking, maybe her mood would improve. She seemed like a fan of her own voice.

“Yasuke was just being a total pussy! One little slip up and he throws a total hissy fit! Big ol’ bitch boy can’t handle a little bit of Miu Iruma apparently!” Hajime wasn’t entirely sure what she meant by that, but he hoped all she meant was that she punched him in the face with that glove she had on. Well, he didn’t hope that was the case, but it was the better alternative to whatever else she might’ve tried...

“Are you telling me you basically assaulted him and because he got mad you think he’s a coward? Seriously?”

Miu was quick to bite back. “Uh, no, I did not ‘assault’ him. ‘Sides, even if I did, I’d say I’m justified. I’ve had a stressful few days, so get off my fuckin’ dick you cum stain!”

As ever, Hajime was left astounded by the vulgarity that Miu could spit out... not to mention all the actual spit that came with the words. “... has the project become too stressful lately?”

“What? Do you keep anything up there, shit-for-brains? In what universe would I, the Ultimate Inventor Miu Iruma, get stressed out by or bored with machines?! That’s the kind of stuff that keeps me up all night...” The way she began twiddling strands of her hair as she bashfully looked away felt somehow very in character, whilst also being entirely out of place. “Nah, what really fucked me over happened yesterday. I was on my way out for a booty call but noooooooo, instead I got triple teamed by two losers and a midget!” The pure, unfiltered confusion on Hajime’s face would have likely prompted clarification from anyone else, but Miu just kept on going. “Those dicks stopped me from getting any! And all because the midget thought her girlfriend was missing because the stupid karate lesbian didn’t check in with her that morning! Like, seriously, who gives a shit? People go missing all the time, and they usually turn up later. Ugh, maybe Tencrotch got tired of that preteen pussy and just wanted to fuck a real woman for once. Seems just as likely as anything else to me!”

As Miu said that, his conversation with Makoto on Saturday flashed in his mind. Missing? Someone was missing? No... “By the sound of it, you hadn’t seen her. Did they end up finding her?”

Miu snorted dismissively, rolling her eyes. “You think I’d give enough of a shit to ask? Of course I don’t know! I mean, I haven’t seen her today, and Himiko wasn’t with anyone when I saw her this morning, so maybe she wasn’t found. It’s not like I really care either way.” Hajime obviously couldn’t fault her for not linking a disappearance to the murders, but regardless of her ignorance of that, it annoyed him that she cared so little for one of her classmates. 

“Do you mind if I stay in here for the rest of lunch Miu?” She only responded with a grunt, so he took that to mean that it was fine as long as he didn’t bother her much. Her response wouldn’t have really mattered that much though, what he wanted to do next could be done anywhere; he just wanted to hang around in case she piped up with anything else of interest. Or even if one of the other two project members showed up. 

Pulling out his phone, he quickly sent some messages to Makoto. Since it was lunch, he hoped he would be quick to answer. 

Hajime: Makoto, change of plans.

Hajime: We need to go back into the NWP tonight.

Makoto: ?

Hajime: I’ve heard a rumour that one of the first-years have gone missing.

Hajime: I don’t know if it’s connected to the murders, but I want to check, just to be safe...

Makoto: kk ill see u tonight then

Makoto: bring a weapon this time!!!

Upon reading that final message, Hajime’s eyes drifted over to Miu. He didn’t really want to bring another fence post into the NWP to fight Shadows, so maybe he could try and take advantage of his budding ‘friendship’ with a certain inventor...

Another night, another investigation. This whole thing was starting to become routine, though whether that was a good thing or bad was hard to say. If something had already happened though... shaking the doubts from his head, Hajime gazed up at the great screen of the NWP, Makoto joining him. “Ready to go Makoto? If I’m right, we might have another Shadow to fight in there...”

Determination written across his face, Makoto nodded. “Yeah, I’m ready. If our theory has been right, we can’t afford to lose. I refuse to let someone die if we can prevent it. And hey, if we lose when you’ve got a neat weapon like that... uh... sorry, I was trying to think of something witty, but I’ve got nothing.”

Hajime’s face creased into something like bemused confusion, but he could at least understand why he was impressed with Miu’s handy work. Turns out she’d repurposed those plastic tubes from a few days ago into a makeshift baseball bat. In shape at least, in practise it would be terribly ineffective and probably illegal considering that she’d decked the thing out with a couple rows of spikes. For whatever reason, Miu had had some straps of leather with spikes on them just lying around, which was fairly helpful for Hajime, but very concerning in terms of what she had originally intended to use them for. Thankfully because she made it he could leave it in the lab all day without it being suspicious, even better considering that there was no feasible way he could carry this thing around school. It did stand out regardless though, since the plastic itself was a bright pink...

“Alright then, let’s go Makoto. Hopefully we can find Usami too, any help we can get would be nice.”

This time, after stepping into the NWP, the pair found themselves somewhere neither had visited before. It was quite obviously an airport, if the planes on the runway weren’t a dead give away, not to mention the conveyer belts of luggage. Hang on, wasn’t no one else on this island? Who would need this stuff? Who did that luggage belong to? Eh, it probably wasn’t that important. 

Running out of the airport, the two quickly looked around, but couldn’t see anything particularly strange from where they currently were. It was quite obvious that they should’ve come up with a game plan beforehand though, splitting up would be a bad idea, but it may prove necessary if they want to cover as much ground as possible to find this missing student. “Hey Makoto, think we should split up? I know it would be dangerous, but our Persona’s act as something like extra protection, right? As long as we find this student, we can hurry on out of here without fighting any Shadows.” Then again, if he was wrong, there wouldn’t be anyone in here. And it’s not like he could be certain of that, the two could just so happen to miss the student while they were lapping the islands. Damn...

But apparently luck remained on their sides, as Makoto excitedly tugged on Hajime’s sleeve. “I don’t think we’ll have to do that Hajime! Look over there!” Following Makoto’s pointed finger, Hajime saw the same sight he had: Usami. Something had launched her into the air. 

Both of them had the same thought: that must be a Shadow! The duo bolted down towards the beach Hajime had first found himself waking up on, which looked to be where Usami had been sent flying from. As soon as they arrived, the two of them were left astounded by what they found. 

Jumping up and down on a half buried Usami was a girl. Not a Shadow version, a normal girl, and she was screeching her head off about the impossibility of Usami’s existence. Uh-oh, that’s right, they’d need to explain to the girl what this place was... hopefully she’d believe them. 

Running down onto the beach, it dawned on Hajime that he vaguely recognised the girl. Where was... oh, of course, he’d seen her in the nurses office a few days ago! To think she’d end up here... at least she was alive. Then again, it would’ve surprised Hajime more if she wasn’t, she struck him as the fighting type, one who wouldn’t go down so easily. Unlike Usami, who was still getting stomped into the sand, her legs flailing about uselessly. “HEY, STOP! CALM DOWN!”

Maybe screaming at her had been a bad idea. The girl immediately looked up at them, her attention snapped away from Usami. She leapt backwards, quickly adopting a fighting stance. Her talent must’ve had something to do with martial arts, her pose looked very professional. “Wh-what is it?! I’ll take you out, degenerate scum! Just try me!”

“No! Wait, hang on, we don’t want to fight you! We’re here to help you!” While Makoto began pleading with the girl, Hajime got to work digging Usami out of the sand. Honestly, she was buried so deep he was surprised she hadn’t suffocated or something.

“H-help me? I-I... no, I can’t trust that! You just want me to let my guard down! I’m not falling for it!” The way she pivoted her foot made it obvious she was about to charge. Makoto had to do something!

“Wait, please! My name is Makoto Naegi, I’m a second year student at Hope’s Peak! You’re a first year student, right? What’s your name?” Makoto quickly racked his brain, he needed something else to calm the girl down... this was particularly tricky since he knew nothing about her, all he had to go on was the fact that she seemed to know how to fight... “D-do you know Sakura Ogami? I’m one of her classmates!”

“You know... you know Sakura?” The girl seemed to falter momentarily, soon dropping her battle stance, though Makoto could tell she was still on edge. “My name is Tenko Chabashira... you’re right, I’m a first year...” Clearly still hesitant, she walked a little closer to the three of them, but maintaining quite a distance. “What’s going on? Why are we here? I feel like I’ve been here for days! The last thing I remember... the last thing I... no, I can’t remember...”

Concern spread over his face and through his mind, and Makoto took a few steps forward to try and close the hostile distance between himself and Tenko. “It’s okay Tenko, you’re going to be fine now. Don’t force yourself to remember anything. You’re safe now, me, Hajime, and our ally Usami are going to help you get out of here, okay? Please, can you trust me?”

Tenko was still clearly hesitant, but after she took a couple of deep breaths she finally let her guard drop. “I... so that bunny was telling the truth? Ugh, I’m so confused right now! What’s going on?”

“W-we’ll explain when we’re safe. Come on Tenko, we need to get going, we can escape from the lodgings on this island. Just stick with us, and you’ll be fine.” Makoto flashed a smile of bravery, and quickly turned to Hajime, who was still busy digging out Usami. 

“Are you still-? Wow, Tenko sure did a number on you Usami, uh, I’ll-“ Tenko jogged up to the rest of them, grabbed Usami by one of her legs and swiftly pulled her out of the sand in one easy motion. 

“C-come on, stop messing around you guys. I wanna go home...”

Makoto and Hajime shared a shocked look with each other, but they knew they couldn’t hang around for long. “R-right! Come on Tenko, just follow me and Hajime!”

Makoto and Hajime took off, their destination already in mind. “You did a great job with negotiating Makoto. You calmed her down so easily.” Hajime glanced back to make sure Tenko was still following. To be fair to her though, she certainly would have been running faster than both of them if she wasn’t also carrying Usami.

The fastest way to get back to the lodges was past a ranch. They’d passed by it every time they’d left, but hadn’t checked it out yet. Oddly, the arch above the entrance marked it as ‘Usami Corral’, but the reasoning behind that could wait for another day, getting Tenko out was their top priority. And it looked as if they could accomplish that with no issues. 

Of course it wasn’t that easy. 

Both Hajime and Makoto had spotted it as they got closer to the ranch, but it wasn’t until the Shadow looked directly at them that they ground to a halt, their breath suddenly ragged, but adrenaline beginning to pump. Tenko stopped jogging too, but her reaction was a lot more vocal. “Wh-what the hell...?! Is that me?!”

At first glance, the Shadow didn’t look explicitly like Tenko. For one, the Shadow’s hair was down, flowing unrestrained in the fresh sea breeze. But what was drastically different was the fact that the Shadow was dressed differently to how their Tenko was. It was the first time they’d seen this, Hajime and Makoto’s Shadows had looked almost identical to the real counterparts. The Shadow was dressed very simply, in naught but a pristine white dress. It exuded an air of elegance and grace that Tenko’s rough-and-tumble style didn’t portray at all. But Shadows were like the opposite of who you portray yourself as, and as tomboyish as Tenko seemed on the surface, it was likely that she was really a bit different deep down...

The Shadow jumped down from the arch; different as it was, it still clearly maintained Tenko’s athletic abilities. When the Shadow looked over the three students (and slightly woozy rabbit), it smiled... it smiled in a manner that felt too genuine to belong to a Shadow. “Ah, hello. Might you be passing through?”

Neither Hajime nor Makoto knew how to approach this one. It was too different... but it seemed nice... would they have to fight it? That’s when Tenko chimed in. “Are you supposed to be me? Because you look like a cheap knockoff! I’d never wear something like that!” Was the costume really the thing to care about?

“Hmm? Of course I’m you, I’m your Shadow. The part of you that you hide from everyone else.”

Tenko had dropped Usami at this point, and chose instead to meet her Shadow head on. “What does that mean? I don’t really like the fact that I can get emotional, but I don’t hide that from anyone, I don’t hide anything.”

The Shadow giggled, a girlish giggle that just didn’t sound right coming out of Tenko’s mouth. “You do? I’m not sure that’s entirely the case, is it? You may be quite open with many of your emotions, but not all of them. You try and hide behind your tough exterior, but inside you’re just a scared young girl. And that’s okay!” Tenko froze as her Shadow gently clasped its hands against her cheeks. “You are just like any other girl Tenko. Just oh so delicate...” The tone of the Shadow was shifting, malicious cords replacing the prior dulcet tones. Hajime and Makoto wanted to move to help Tenko, but feared that hasty action would only endanger her. “Face it, even after all that training, you’re still that fragile young girl that your parents sent off to the mountains all those years ago. That was the root of me, wasn’t it? Ever since then, you’ve been missing something, and we both know it. You want to be loved, don’t you? You are so desperate to feel love from those around you. That’s what you really fight for, isn’t it? Your ego and self esteem. That’s really why you’ve been hurting recently, isn’t it? Every rejection from the girl you love, every shunning from those who you see as friends, every rumour you hear about yourself... And look at you now! Nothing but a sad, lonely little girl who’ll never be able to fit in! Look how valuable all that training was!”

With blinding fury, Tenko kicked out her left leg, but her Shadow self seemed to morph around the blow. It smiled a sadistic grin as its body started to rumble. “Tenko! Get back!” Makoto called out to her, but it came just too late. As the Shadow exploded with gunk, Tenko was thrown back, a groan sounding out from her as she lay aching on the floor. However, Tenko’s state of being wasn’t what the two boys had to worry about now. The new monster was their top priority. But just as the human Shadow has been quite different, so too was the monster that came from it.

Again, perhaps not the right time, but Hajime felt compelled to ask. “Tenko? You wouldn’t happen to be a Featherman fan, would you?”

Still splayed out on the floor, Tenko’s response sounded pained. “Y-yeah... why do you care? It’s cool to like Featherman at my age...” When Tenko propped herself up, she got a good idea of why Hajime had asked her. 

Clad in a rainbow of spandex, and an equally garish helmet, the Shadow had donned the appearance of what could only really be described as a Sentai character from a fever dream. Iron gauntlets patterned with deadly spikes brought a painful reality to the ensemble, as did the face peering through the visor of the helmet. Within the suit lay a physical manifestation of the attitude Tenko’s Shadow had adopted as it came closer to its transformation, bloodshot and bulging eyes paired with a wicked snarl-like grin. The juxtaposition between the jolly outer shell and the pure malice within it was significantly more along the lines of previous Shadow’s the two had fought. 

Both brandished their weapons, just as Usami finally returned to her senses, even if she was quite confused. “Waaaaah! Hajime, Makoto, what’s happening? Last I remember I was trying to help a lost girl!”

Makoto was left to respond as Hajime charged forward. “Well, we found you two, but before we could escape with Tenko, we ran into her Shadow. Usami, make sure she’s okay, Hajime and I will take care of the Shadow.” As Usami hobbled over to the wounded Tenko, Hajime swung his bat at the Shadow with as much force as he could muster, but it proved fruitless as the ranger nimbly dodged the swing with a simple backflip, quickly retaliating with a kick that nailed its target of Hajime’s chest. 

Knocked backwards and off his feet, Hajime began to pick himself up as Makoto went in for some attacks of his own. However, they proved just as useless as Hajime’s, the Shadow dodging every slice and stab with precise and calculated jumps. Forced to back away, Makoto barely had time to react before the Shadow abandoned its defensive style, barrelling forward with a flurry of attacks. 

Makoto grunted in pain with every punch and kick that landed, but while the Shadow was mostly stationary Hajime took his chance and swung at the Shadow, finally snagging a hit. But when he did, a part of him wished he hadn’t. The Shadow didn’t cry in pain upon being struck, instead it... it made a noise much more like a moan, and not one of discomfort. 

When the Shadow jumped back, Hajime helped the downed Makoto to his feet, but neither had long to recuperate before it shot up into the air. The air time it got was certainly a defiance of gravity, but it gave the two some time to react. They broke away from each other, figuring that there was no way the Shadow could connect with both of them. And they were right, it couldn’t, not without aid. 

When a foot came careening towards Hajime, he barely stepped out of the way before the Shadow made contact with the ground, leaving a small crater where the foot had connected. That didn’t mean Hajime was safe though, the other leg shot out at a seemingly impossible angle, throwing him backwards at an equally impossible angle, causing him to collide with Makoto, leaving the two in a heavily injured pile. 

They hadn’t tasted defeat before, but they were getting so thoroughly destroyed in this battle that it felt almost logical to resign to their fates then and there. They didn’t want to of course, but the searing pain both were feeling was a source of overwhelming despair. 

“WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!” When all hope seemed lost, Usami’s scream ended up being a light in the dark, her little body colliding with the head of the Shadow, throwing it to the ground.

“Hey! Leave them alone!” Tenko stood in a battle stance near identical to the one the Shadow version of her stood in when not attacking. She’d removed her school jacket and cardigan, only wearing her white button-up. Turns out she’d thrown Usami at her Shadow, and it had proved a surprisingly effective move. 

Not waiting for the Shadow to recover, Tenko charged, reaching the monster before it fully regained its footing. Grappling with the dazed Shadow, Tenko kicked out its legs, dropping it to the floor where she delivered a powerful kick down onto its chest. 

Unlike the other two boys, Tenko didn’t look phased by the groan her Shadow released, instead focused on the retaliation punch that she nimbly jumped back out of the way of. 

Jumping back to its feet, the Shadow wobbled before launching itself back into the air. Tenko had an idea of how to counter that though. With overwhelming self confidence, she rushed forward, and she too jumped into the air. Naturally she couldn’t reach the Shadow’s height, but she got high enough for both of her hands to grab onto one of its legs. With a smug grin, she pulled down, sending the Shadow flying down into the ground below, this time a scream of genuine pain ringing out over the ranch. 

“Oh my- let’s hope neither of us get on her bad side...” Makoto quipped as he finished healing himself and Hajime. A handy skill he’d only just realised he had. 

“Well? Had enough yet?” Tenko taunted her battered Shadow, which was somehow still standing. But when it charged her in raw anger, it took very little effort for Tenko to dodge every attack sent her way. “Sorry, but if you were really me you’d know...” She grabbed her Shadow by the arm, and, with a burst of strength, flung it over her shoulder, it’s final death cry sounding out. “... I get super predictable when I get too emotional.”

Smug as she was, Tenko quickly re-adopted her battle stance when her human Shadow rose from the dust of its combative form. But before she could attack again, Hajime called out to her. “T-Tenko, stop! You’ve fought all you can, your Shadow lost. You can’t get rid of it now, unless you accept what it said, accept that as part of who you are.”

With the adrenaline of battle leaving her veins, Tenko returned to her slightly more skittish state. “Huh? That’s...” Tenko took a few deep breaths to clear her head. She wasn’t so sure about what she’d been told to do, but the situation she was in was already so bizarre as is, and she hadn’t really questioned it that much yet... “Err, right... accept it... ugh, and I’m front of two degenerates as well...! Fine! Yeah, I admit it, I am lonely. And I do feel pain from everything I hear everyday. Whenever I hear a rumour from the Reserve kids, when I hear someone insult me behind my back... every time Himiko rejects my declarations of love and friendship... yeah, it hurts. It hurts a lot. But if you really are my repressed emotions, you were pushed down for a reason you know. Isn’t that part of my training? Of my personal journey? I know what Himiko will say, but don’t I still try and go further with her everyday? But I get it, this isn’t something I can brute force my way through. If I want the perspectives of those around me to change, then I need to take the first step. I’m going to get better everyday, and who knows, maybe some day Himiko will consider me her best friend. If I want the people I love to love me back... then I need to start to love myself. It’s something I’ve come to realise over the past few days, but not everything will go my way... and that’s just fine.” Tenko’s Shadow self shone with a blue light, and as it disappeared her knees buckled, and she dropped to the floor, exhaustion flooding her body. 

The sight was something that Hajime and Makoto were fairly used to now, so once Tenko collapsed they knew exactly what to do next without the need to panic. 

Lifting her by her arms, Hajime supported her just as he had done for Makoto, although he was decidedly more conscious of the body he was carrying this time... “Uh, Makoto? Could you grab the clothes she tossed on the ground back there?” Shouting a quick ‘sure’, Makoto went to scoop up Tenko’s jackets. But while he did, Hajime thought it advantageous to talk to Usami while he still had the chance. “Usami, hey, since we last came in here, has anything strange been happening? Anything out of the ordinary?”

Usami was clearly still a little dazed and confused, but she sounded quite sure when she answered. “Hmm... no, nothing has particularly been different. I found that girl in here yesterday, but I couldn’t stay with her the entire time... was there something I was supposed to see?” All Hajime really wanted to know was if Usami had seen Tenko come in. A huge error in his theory for how these murders were being committed had been brought to his attention by Makoto- how would they get in? Perhaps the more relevant question would be how he had managed to come in, but Makoto couldn’t have by himself. There was still a lot to find out if they wanted to contribute to this case, but for now getting Tenko out of here was the top priority. 

“What?! You think that that place is connected to the recent murders?!”

“Shhhh! Not so loud! And yes, we do.” Tenko had woken up much faster than either Hajime or Makoto had when they defeated their Shadows, it most likely spoke volumes of the difference between their levels of physical prowess. 

“Then why haven’t you told the police or something yet? A-are you going to have to silence me for what I’ve seen? Are you in on it?!” Tenko took a hasty offensive stance, so Hajime knew he had to defuse her quickly. 

“No no no, it’s because... well it’s just a hunch. We don’t actually know for certain yet... not to mention that the place is dangerous, neither me or Makoto want to send anyone there when we aren’t absolutely positive it’s linked to the murders. So Tenko... we need to know, how did you end up in there?”

She looked immediately weary, her uncertainty clear on her face. “I... I don’t remember. I was leaving school on Saturday and... I think... I think someone might’ve attacked me... It was really sudden, I don’t even think I fought back... but I don’t remember anything after that, my memories picked up again when I woke up by this weird statue.”

That sealed it. Tenko’s testimony was clear evidence that someone was very purposely attacking people and putting them into the NWP. But... what could they do about that? They had no real leads as to who this attacker might be, so how could they go about catching them? Not to mention all of their targets had been fundamentally different. Taking the three incidents they were sure were involved, Natsumi, Miaya and Tenko had nothing in common except that they were girls. A Reserve student, a Hope’s Peak graduate, and a current Ultimate...

“Hajime... while we’re collecting leads, do you want to keep on doing this? Like, checking in regularly to make sure that if anyone goes in we can get them out? It might not be ideal, but I don’t think there’s much we can do with what information we have. And while I’d hate to say it, if there are some more victims put in Tenko’s position, we might be able to get more infomation...”

“Ah, you should make a crime fighting squad!” Both pairs of eyes were on Tenko as she exclaimed that. “You know, like some vigilante superheroes. You are technically acting outside of the law, even if you do have good intentions. But you fight for justice, and that’s something that I can get behind. So let me join up with you! In fact, I even nominate myself as leader, that way you can’t refuse me.”

“I dunno Tenko...”

“Yeah, it’s danger-“

“I think Hajime would make for a better leader. He’s technically been doing this for the longest, so it seems only right to have him be our leader.” Seriously? Makoto just accepted it without any hesitation? Could they really drag Tenko into this? Was it right to? Well... it would certainly be helpful to have another teammate...

“What? No way, did you see me fighting that weird version of me? I kicked butt, and you degenerates got crushed!”

“H-hey, we didn’t do that badly and- sorry, did you just call us degenerates?”

“Yeah, I did, got a problem with that, degenerate?”

Hajime couldn’t hold back his laughter anymore. Watching Tenko and Makoto bicker... it reminded him of what he had been missing for so long. And though it was under unfavourable circumstances, he was starting to get what he had been wishing for for years now... “Guys, how about we discuss this another time. Tomorrow maybe? My shift is almost over, so we can leave soon. I don’t know about you two, but I really want to just go to sleep tonight. But if you two want to make a team... well, I’d be happy to join. So what do you say? Are we all in?” Makoto’s smile and Tenko’s confident air punch was all the answer he needed. 

Thou art I... And I am thou... Thou hast established a new bond... 

It brings to thee a new hope...

Thou hast been blessed by Fool Arcana...

Tenko too had been eager to get go sleep. Her body was a mess of aches and pains after her experience on that island. When she walked back to the dorms with Makoto, he’d promised to catch her up to speed with everything he and Hajime knew, but that wasn’t on her mind so much right now. No, there was something she had to do before turning in. Considering how late it was, it was a huge gamble, but...

Tenko knocked on Himiko’s door, loud enough that she was sure the mage would hear it but not alert anyone else in the building. As she honestly expected, nothing happened. Himiko didn’t come rushing to the door like she’d kind of hoped. 

But as she turned to leave... “I know I’m worrying you, but I’m fine Shu-“ Himiko’s breath caught in her throat when she saw Tenko. Tenko had hoped that the face that would greet her would be a jolly one, but as soon as Himiko saw her, her eyes became glossy, and she started sniffling. 

“Ah, Himiko, are you-“ She was quickly cut off by the mighty hug Himiko wrapped her in. Mighty for someone so small anyway. Tenko herself had started to panic though, this was new, Himiko had never reacted like this before, plus this was the most affection she’d ever given to Tenko in... ever!

“Tenko... please don’t leave me alone again... you’re such a pain...” Tenko could feel wet tears through her shirt, and the prospect of Himiko crying made her a little misty eyed as well. Patting the small girl on the head, Tenko retuned the hug, just enjoying the affection while it lasted.


	19. Chapter 17

Tuesday, April 23rd

“And so you have returned, young guest. Welcome to the Velvet Room.”

Once again in his slumber, Hajime had ‘awoken’ to the sight of Igor, with Sonia standing next to him, just as calm as she had been the first time he saw her here. 

Noticeably different, however, was the blackboard situated on the wall behind Igor. The previous times he’d been here, the board had been smeared with a thick chalk coat, but now just about half the board had been wiped and decorated with very familiar likenesses. His ‘teammates’ as it were. 

Each of them had a column each, stretching the height of the board, starting from the very left with Hajime himself, then Makoto, then Tenko; Usami populating the far right side of the board. Within each column, they had been drawn in dynamic posing, Hajime would have likened them to promotional art for a game or anime. Sonia seemed to notice that he was staring at the drawings, and her smile widened as she began rocking back and forth on her heels. Did she draw them?

“Since we last met, you have undertaken quite the task, have you not? You have chosen to pursue your own justice, found others to support you and chose to join you on your path. We of the Velvet Room will happily guide you on your journey, we wish to see where your pursuits shall lead you, and to which possible future you shall arrive.” Igor extended an arm out in gesture to Sonia. “My attendant shall offer you guidance in your world, and when deemed necessary, you shall return here, to see me once again. I am truly excited to watch you grow, and witness you master the power you hold within.”

Hajime felt this meeting was coming to an end, it seemed to just be a check-in of sorts, but then Igor lowered his head, the light steaming in from outside of the room casting an ominous shadow over his face. “However, I must warn you, young guest. There is a tragedy awaiting you in the near future, one that shall contest you justice and alter the world views of those around you. You have been warned...”

“So... you were just in meditation for the past few days? Why didn’t you tell me Tenko?”

While Tenko hated to see Himiko so distraught, she had to admit that seeing her so openly expose her emotions was delightful. “I’m so sorry Himiko! I didn’t want to make you worry... but I didn’t wish to disturb you when I decided on it on Saturday. You were hanging out with one of your own friends, yeah? I didn’t want to interrupt that.” She was lying through her teeth, but she’d been practicing all morning for this. 

Tenko had woken up really early, which basically just meant that after coming back from the NWP she hadn’t slept. After letting Himiko go to sleep, she’d been practicing the lines she’d need to give Himiko and anyone else who asked her about where she’d been the last few days. Makoto had made it clear on the way back last night to not let anyone know about that island. Not yet. 

“Nyeh... okay Tenko... but you still caused a load of commotion for no reason... you didn’t tell anyone what you were doing... it was a real pain looking for you on Sunday...”

“Aww, you were that concerned about me? Himiko have I finally broken the chains surrounding your heart? Are we best friends for real now?!” Tenko tightly hugged Himiko, and was thoroughly surprised to not get any instant rejection. Himiko didn’t hug back, but she didn’t try and worm her way out of it. “I’m sorry you were lonely Himiko. Did Angie not keep you company?”

That was a minefield, and Tenko knew it. She wasn’t sure what had happened with Angie after Saturday’s match, but she needed to know, and Himiko would be the best source of info on that front. “... Angie’s in her room. Apparently she’s taking time off of school for a while because of something.” Himiko’s eyes narrowed, not in suspicion, but with a hint of sorrow. “Tenko... do you know what happened to Angie...?”

Tenko bit her bottom lip. She should’ve expected that. She couldn’t lie to Himiko about this, could she? But she wasn’t particularly excited to own up to what she’d done right now, not when her friendship with Himiko was apparently starting to take off. “Uh, I think I do Himiko. But... I want to talk about it when Angie comes back. Is that okay?”

It took a few seconds, but Himiko slightly nodded her head, though her eyes still looked to be holding sadness. “That’s okay... as long as you tell me...” It was about then that Himiko’s face brightened a little. Tenko always thought her soft smile matched well with those rosy cheeks. “Tenko... d-do you want to hang out together later...? I know it’ll be just us, but I think that’s how it’ll have to be for a while without Angie...”

If Tenko could choose to die at any moment, this would be it! Himiko was asking to hang out, just the two of them! It was... it would almost be just like a date! “Oh, I would love to Himiko! But, heheheh... I might be a bit late. I already agreed to meet up with some other friends to help them out with something. It shouldn’t take long, but it’s something I have to do. Is that fine?”

Himiko nodded her head. “Yeah, that’s okay. Actually, I need to speak to someone too, so I’ll do that after school. I’m... excited to spend some time with you today.”

Tenko took it back. Now was the time she’d happily choose to die. 

Shuichi couldn’t tell who, or from where, but he was sure someone was staring at him. Unrelenting... it was making it really difficult to concentrate on his work. He was already on edge anyway, but this was making him unbearably uncomfortable. 

“Shuichi...” He shrieked when he felt Himiko tug on his sleeve. Apparently he’d been even more on edge than he’d thought. “Umm... is everything okay?”

Shuichi pulled his cap down over his eyes in an attempt to hide his embarrassment, but he didn’t feel it was really working. “Ah, I’m sorry Himiko, I-I’m just a bit worked up. Hard cases a-and all... So... I assume this is about Tenko? Has she turned up?” The question was just a formality, he could tell that Tenko must’ve been found based on the fact that Himiko was actually smiling. 

“Mmm-hmm, yep, turns out she was meditating in her room since Saturday night.” Shuichi had never heard of anyone meditating for that long without a break... but it’s not as if he was some kind of expert on the subject. And it’s not like he wanted to doubt Tenko, just... he’d been taught to suspect every oddity. 

“That’s great news. I’m glad I won’t have to drop my current cases to help out. Uh, not that I didn’t want you to ask for my help, just... ah, sorry, I’m sure you know what I meant, it’s just a nervous habit of mine I suppose, to stumble around my words...”

Himiko smiled proudly, cackling a childish laugh. “Nee-hee-hee-hee, that’s okay Shuichi. It’s natural to be so flustered around a girl as beautiful as me.” It took all of his willpower to not laugh at that. He didn’t want it to be taken as if he were laughing at her, it’s just that she sounded so confident and proud as she said it- it was quite unexpected is all. “Sh-Shuichi? It won’t be for long, but can I... can I stay here with you for a little bit?”

“Hmm? Oh, yes, of course, but may I ask why?” It was something else he hadn’t expected from her. He had to assume it had something to do with that fact that she’d spent quite a lot of time with him the past few days, and she was just used to it already. He understood Himiko to be a creature of habit. 

Himiko’s confidence seemingly drained away in an instant as she began to nervously twiddle her fingers. “Well... the fact that I wasn’t able to find Tenko must mean that I’m not quite as powerful a mage as I thought. So... I-I think being near y-you will fill me up with mana. You wear a hat, just like me, which is a universal sign of mages, so I’m sure you have a surplus of mana I can use to give myself a boost.”

“But... you aren’t wearing- never mind. Of course you can stay with me for a while.” He also didn’t want to point out the fact that he definitely wasn’t a ‘mage’, but everyone knew that Himiko enjoyed the fantasy she had crafted for herself, so he’d rather not try and destroy it. It’s not like he minded her hanging around him either. So far, she’d fallen into the ‘Maki’ category of company, she didn’t meddle in his work, and was pleasant company when he needed a break. Granted, he had to be the one to initiate conversation around her, but it helped him with his social skills, and he certainly needed to improve those. 

But making conversation was difficult when he could feel eyes staring holes into him... and it felt like another pair or two had joined in...

“... and that’s all we’ve managed to figure out so far. Makoto and I have a few ways of getting information, but the process isn’t quick.”

“Yeah, I’ve been struggling to ask Kyoko anything without sounding too suspicious. Honestly, I wonder if she’ll end up thinking I’m involved at this rate...”

Tenko rolled her eyes. “Really? That’s it? You two are lame even by usual degenerate standards. But I should’ve been able to tell you that from how you fought that Shadow. Why didn’t you use your Persona’s?” The three hadn’t managed to find a good meeting place on account of Tenko suddenly not wanting to leave school grounds. Apparently she wanted to do something, but she wouldn’t divulge what exactly. 

Something Tenko said caught Hajime’s attention. Just like with Makoto, no one had mentioned Persona’s to Tenko, in fact, she hadn’t even seen one yet. He had a speculation, but he needed to test it out. “Sorry, we were a little busy going on the defensive. How did you know about our Persona’s anyway?”

Tenko shrugged indifferently, but looked confused. “I uh... I dunno. I just do. This morning it just kind of clicked like I always knew, or something.” Just as Hajime had thought. It was similar with Makoto. Maybe it had something to do with defeating your Shadow, did that enlighten you to the power of Persona, and other people’s Persona’s? “Anyway, back on topic, you guys were awful in that fight. I think you need a bit of training.”

How was this back on topic? Tenko was totally just trying to control the conversation. Despite that, neither Makoto nor Hajime tried to reclaim the conversation, instead they just nervously looked at Tenko. “Training? Tenko, what are you planing?” Makoto was brave to ask, but it was better to know beforehand than suddenly get dropped into it. 

“Well, most days I go and train during classes and after school. You two should drop by sometimes, not only will it be good for your health, it’ll make you less likely to die on Jabberwock. There’s a couple of ways you could go about it, but if you want my help we’re going to be brawling. Otherwise, I’m sure Taka or Peko will teach you some kendo if you want.” It actually wasn’t a bad idea. Increasing their physical abilities would certainly be useful in the long term, but the idea of fighting someone like Tenko... scary wasn’t strong enough a word. 

“I think that sounds fair... but if we all spend so long training, how are we going to get more information?” Again, Makoto raised a good point, but Tenko was quick to counter. 

“Obviously we won’t all train on the same days. Besides, I happen to have an Ultimate Detective in my class, and although I’d rather leave the degenerate be, I’m positive that I can get plenty of intel outta him. And if I can’t, I’m sure I can ask one of the other girls in my class to help get stuff from him.”

Hajime wasn’t so sure if that would work, or if it was a good idea to go around getting others involved in the intel gathering, but it’s not as if he could hover over Tenko at all times to make sure she was saying all the right things. “Then I guess we have a deal... starting tomorrow we’ll all be working out together. Right Team... team...”

Makoto rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, we’ll have to figure out that name...”

“H-H-Hiyoko, can you please stop p-pacing? It’s making me feel s-stressed.”

“What else am I supposed to do, pig shit?! You’ve been telling me to calm down all day, and now that I have you’re telling me I’m making you stressed? How do you think I’m feeling right now?!” It’s true, all day Hiyoko had been panicking over the same thing, the same thing as she had been the rest of the week.

“H-Hiyoko... have you been pestering Mahiru again?”

“So what if I have? She needs to know that at least someone is there for her, and apparently I’m the only one who’s going to do it!” Despite the fact that Hiyoko had apparently calmed herself, her breath was unsteady, and Mikan could see that her shoulders were quivering. She was in quite the state, whether she realised it or not. “I’ve been trying everything to get Mahiru out of her room, I’ve talked at her, I’ve told her about school, I’ve even confessed my love, but I’m not getting any responses anymore... she didn’t even tell me to stop teasing her or something when I told her I loved her...”

“W-well... maybe she could tell you didn’t m-mean it?”

Hiyoko stopped dead in her pacing tracks, her head snapping towards Mikan. “Wh... what did you just say?”

Mikan squealed under the harsh glare, holding her hands over her chest in an effort to make herself smaller. “I-I-I-I mean that sh-she can tell that you’re only saying it t-to get her out of her room!”

Hiyoko’s glare relented, her childish pout replacing the threatening look. “Whatever. Look, just... it’s Mahiru’s birthday tomorrow, so all I wanted to tell you was that you better come with me to see her tomorrow. All you have to do is bring a gift, I’ve already got the cake and my own presents for her. So... you better be there!” With her final declaration done, she stormed out of the nurses office. 

Mikan understood why Hiyoko was so worked up, in fact she herself was becoming increasingly worried about Mahiru. It didn’t seem right for her to not respond at all with Hiyoko going over almost everyday. Were things worse than she’d thought?

It had seemed possible at the start of this tragedy, but now it had fallen into the category of probable. But she wouldn’t be able to just ignore them tomorrow, would she? Hiyoko had been very serious about making preparations for her birthday; even before all of this happened Hiyoko had been prepping, though most of her plans had been flushed because of this. 

This had to work... this needed to work.

Upon arriving at the tech lab for tonight’s shift, Hajime was surprised to find Kizakura waiting for him. He remembered that the teacher had said he’d come around sometimes, but Hajime assumed that he was joking. “Mr. Kizakura... what are you doing here?”

The teacher looked as nonchalant as ever, leaning against the wall with his flask already in hand. “Just down here to check on you kiddo. You’ve been quiet lately is all, we wanted to know if you’ve started to enjoy your job.”

“I wouldn’t say that I enjoy it... but I’m not as opposed to it as I was before.” Technically he wasn’t lying, but he had a feeling Kizakura didn’t particularly care about his feelings regarding the job. He must’ve been here for something. 

Kizakura looked off down the halls, slowly nodding his head to no one. “Right, good good. I had a feeling you were having fun.” He broke away from the wall, and began to lean closer to Hajime. “Though I am curious... how’d you manage to sneak that girl in last night?” Hajime’s face paled. He was talking about Tenko, right? Is that what this was about? Did Kizakura know about the NWP?

“Wh-what do you mean? I don’t-“

“Come on Hajime, there’s no need to lie. Not to me. I don’t necessarily know what you and the other two are up to, but I can hazard a guess. Don’t worry though, I don’t intend to rat you out. Believe you me, it’s no coincidence that you and the lucky boy met that night after receiving conflicting info from Jin. That man has his hands in way too many cookie jars...” The dry laugh that followed lacked any discernible emotion. It was off putting, to say the least.

However, Hajime was more interested in that comment about the headmaster. Did he already know the secret of the NWP? That would make sense, he is the headmaster, but why was he doing nothing about it? Or maybe he was... maybe that’s why so many detectives were running around; two real ones, and now three idiots who were in way over their heads. “What do you want from us?”

Kizakura smiled, it was a playful grin, mischievous. “Oh, not much. I’d just like to get some reports from you about what you’ve been finding out. I’ll continue to drop by as I please, and we can go from there. And it’s not like you wouldn’t get anything out of it...” He leaned forward again, conspiratorially whispering to Hajime once more. “After all, I’m pretty talented when it comes to doctoring video footage.”

Again, Hajime’s face paled, his eyes wide, it didn’t sound like it on the surface, but this was blackmail, wasn’t it? With Kizakura able to use the security footage, he basically held the school lives of him and his friends in his hands. If anyone else found out that they were coming to school at night, as well as entering a forbidden room, they’d be expelled for sure. Who knows, maybe they’d even get pinned for the murders. “So that was you? You’re the reason we haven’t been showing up on the security footage?”

“Yeah. But you really make it hard on me. You all need to start leaving at different times, editing the footage so it looks like you’re the only one who leaves is damn painful, I usually just give up and wipe all of you from the footage. Anyway, I assume we have a deal, right kiddo? I’m looking forward to our time together. It promises to be exciting.”

Thou art I... And I am thou... Thou hast established a new bond... 

It brings to thee a new hope...

Thou hast been blessed by the Temperance Arcana...


	20. Chapter 18

Wednesday, April 24th

“Oi, shrimp, what ya doin’?”

Chihiro felt heat rush to his cheeks as Miu pushed herself against the back of his chair; two ‘pillows’ soon pressing against the back of his head. “O-oh, I’m just, uh, just sorting out some code for the NWP...”

“What? You ain’t finished with that shit yet? How’s that fuckin’ possible? Eh, actually, never mind, you’re the one who’s in ‘ere least. Speakin’ of, tell me, who’s dick is bigger?”

Chihiro stiffened in his chair. Even though he’d been working with Miu for just under a year now, he still wasn’t used to all the profanities she came up with. “I-I’m sorry? Who are... who are you talking about?”

Miu rolled her eyes, though Chihiro wouldn’t have seen it. “Mine or yours, who the fuck do you think?” He had a feeling he knew who Miu was talking about, but he felt that bringing any attention to his friends outside of this room was a bad idea. 

“I’m serious Miu, I h-have no idea what you’re talking about...” His typing had practically ground to a halt, his fingers too shaky and his wrists too stiff to really continue.

“Whaaaaat? Don’t give me that shit, if you’re a slut then you’re a slut, I’m not gonna shame you for it. Oooooohhhhh, I get it.” He was absolutely positive that Miu did not ‘get it’ and whatever she was about to say was going to miss the target she was firing at by miles. “You’re the type of gal that would rather eat out than guzzle a milkshake!” Miu would never cease to amaze him with how much saliva she could generate when laughing... his poor poor monitors. 

Oddly enough though, Miu was kind of right, in a roundabout way. He could probably just let her believe that for now, it might make revealing his gender to her easier one day... if their friendship even got that far. “C-can we please drop this Miu...? I’m trying to concentrate and you’re making it really-“

“Hard? ‘Cause you may not be rocking a cock, but I can feel all the blood rushing to your head!” Chihiro was tempted to ask if she was proud of that one. She certainly sounded it. “I’m flattered short stack, but I don’t know if you’re ready for me. I’m pretty hardcore, and besides, you’re so fragile I’d probably crush you between my thighs!”

“If you two are going to fuck, don’t do it in here. You’ll get the keyboards sticky.” Both of them turned their heads to Yasuke, who’d just returned from another meeting with the headmaster. 

“Oh shut it, just ‘cause you ain’t getting any from us doesn’t mean you have to be jealous. Besides, who’s your type? Loli or busty babe? If you’re lucky, we’ll film a sex tape and you can bust it to both of us, hah-haha!”

“Quiet, whore.” In two words he’d shut Miu up, pushing her out of the way while she squealed in ‘fear’. “Chihiro, did you recode what I asked you to?”

Thankful to be back to business, Chihiro returned to the console he’d been typing at before Miu came over. “I-I’m working on it. It was the erratic entry code that we had reported to us, right? Actually fixing the bug won’t be complicated, it’s just making sure I don’t accidentally mess with the other code that’s taking some time. But it should be finished by home time.”

“Hmph... good work. At least someone in here is pulling their weight.” The face Miu pulled after that read something like a mix between ‘Leave me alone’ and ‘I’m sorry’. “Has our tester come across any other bugs so far? And are they still in the dark about what we’ve got them doing?”

Chihiro nodded. “I think so. The only thing that might be problematic is that if the AI I installed in the system is pushed too far, the whole system could crash. I’m looking for a way around it, but there are already a few problems it’s creating...”

Yasuke raised an eyebrow, inquisitive but also commanding. “What sort of problems? Nothing that’s going to set us back I’d hope.”

“... I’m honestly n-not sure. Apparently my AI is generating events, and not the type we’d intended. Apparently there are multiple characters that keep popping up and disappearing. At this rate, I think I’ll have to pull the plug on this aspect of our research and find another way to do it. Is that okay? I can see how we go until the middle of May, but if things are bad I’ll have to shut this down.”

Yasuke was silent for a while. He was clearly mulling over Chihiro’s proposition thoroughly. “Fine, if we have to. But I want someone testing out the system regardless, got it? I don’t care how it’s monitored, but we need this thing to be running smoothly.”

“I know. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Happy birthday Mahiru!”

Hiyoko, Mikan and Ibuki were sat outside Mahiru’s dorm room, a few presents stacked against the door frame and a small, overly creamed cake was set out just in front of the door itself. It only had eighteen candles though, Hiyoko has accidentally melted one completely when she was baking the cake and mistakenly put it in the oven, and she refused to reuse any of the candles that had even been touched before- not for Mahiru. She deserved only the best, the cleanest and brightest candles... even if she was missing one. 

But it didn’t seem like that would matter, it felt unlikely that Mahiru would see the cake anyway. The three of them had sung as loud as they could to make sure she knew that they were there (which was absurdly loud considering they had Ibuki with them), but she still hadn’t even knocked back to tell them that she was on the other side. 

“I can’t wait for you to open your presents Mahiru! I got you the most, obviously, and the best ones. And I hope you like the cake I made for you, I’ve spent weeks learning how to bake something good, just for you. Sorry about Ibuki though, she completely fucked up her present and had to buy you something else last minute.”

“Heeeeeey, Ibuki thought it would make for a great gift! It would’ve cheered Mahiru up no problem. That’s a woman’s promise.”

“Ugh, shut up, it was disgusting! I wasn’t going to let you get away with giving Mahiru something so nasty!”

“Come oooooooonnnnn Hiyoko, you wouldn’t be saying that if a slapped a happy little bow on yours!”

“Wha? I don’t have- what are you trying to say?!” Ibuki giggled to herself, as she often did, but the mood was too heavy for it to really have any uplifting effect. So too was Hiyoko’s arguing, it lacked any feeling behind it... the corridor felt desolate, even with all the party stuff that they had out. 

It finally hit them how depressing this was when Mikan suddenly burst into tears. Hiyoko and Ibuki looked to each other for guidance, but neither of them knew what to do. Try what they’d like, this was just the same as any other time they’d come to see Mahiru, but somehow even more depressing. “Heh-heh... c’mon Mikan, Ibuki’s joke wasn’t that bad... heheheh... hehe... hah...”

Hiyoko shuffled back along the floor until she felt the wall behind her. Bringing her knees up to her face, she buried herself in them, wrapping her arms around her legs. “You two can leave... this is a bust anyway...”

Hiyoko didn’t pay attention to the other two after saying that. It was all she had left to give today. Somewhere along the way Mikan’s crying stopped, Ibuki didn’t have any quip... smoke from the candles still tickled her nose, but that was about it. 

When she let her legs fall, it was just her and the reminders that Mahiru was so close, yet impossibly far. Sticking her hand inside her kimono, she pulled out the last little gift she could give to Mahiru- a card she’d made for her. 

The more she looked at it, the more she began to hate it. The childish scribbles on the front, the overuse of bright colours, all those loving phrases she wanted so desperately to hear coming from Mahiru once again...

It looked to her like a baby had made it, the awful drawings of the four friends all together again on the front, the flowers and sun and food... the “happy birthday”’s, the “we miss you”’s... the “I love you”’s. Every part of Hiyoko wanted to tear the card to shreds, and burn the little pieces in the flickering flames of the slowly melting candles. 

But she didn’t. Crawling over to Mahiru’s door, she slid the card through the crack at the bottom. Good... now she wouldn’t have to look at it ever again...

Hiyoko crawled back to her spot opposite the door, retuning to her position of legs to face. 

Was this it? Was this the closest she would ever be to Mahiru now? There was a sharp pain in her chest, but the throbbing in her head was much worse. No, no it wasn’t worse, but it was much louder.

What was the point? She just wanted to help make Mahiru better. To help her get back on her feet. But Mahiru wasn’t even giving her the chance. 

Hiyoko found that she was tired most days now, and with that came the fact that she couldn’t really find a night in recent memory where she hadn’t cried herself to sleep. This was the first time she’d fallen asleep while crying in the dorm hallway though. 

Hajime was a sweaty, panting mess by the time Tenko had finished guiding him through the ‘warm up’ as she called it. But there was no way that was just a warm up, he’d never pushed himself so hard in his life. His legs were burning, his arms were numb, and the pounding of his heart was so loud it threatened to deafen him. 

“Alright Hajime, you can take a break for a bit. Me and Sakura are going to run through some movements real quick, and when we’ve done, you can join in too. Don’t worry, we’ll still guide you. I don’t expect you to get it first try.”

Tenko was actually really nice when it came down to training. So far she’d been considerate to Hajime’s non-athleticism, and carefully explained all the movements without getting mad if he messed up. Considering how she usually was, he was surprised. It also didn’t slip past his notice that while training she actually called him Hajime, instead of just male or degenerate. “O....... o-okay....... I’ll take....... a breather........ to watch....... thanks Tenko......” Damn he was out of shape. 

“Hey, in here, that’s ‘Master Tenko’ to you. Or ‘Sensei Tenko’, I’ll accept either. Just remember to show your respect.” Okay, good, so she hadn’t received a blow to the head, it was still Tenko teaching him. 

When Tenko and Sakura began to show him those motions though, he just began to daydream. He was so exhausted that even watching those two work out was killing him. Although watching someone as huge as Sakura do anything was quite mesmerising, his eyes were drawn to Makoto. He’d opted to try out a different form of exercise today. He was practising kendo with a boy and a girl on the other side of the gym. He vaguely recognised the boy, he was the Student Council President after all, but he’d never seen the girl before. Hmm, he’d never imagined kendo and glasses making for a good combo...

“Hajime! Are you paying attention!” He was quickly brought back to reality just so he could watch the two girls strike some more poses. 

Soon enough, he found himself joining them, but again his mind was elsewhere. This time though he was more concerned about the fact that there were some scarily muscular girls in the Main Course. Sakura looked like a walking wall of musculature, it was downright terrifying, and while you couldn’t really tell through her keikogi, he knew Tenko was quite muscular herself. Thanks to carrying her on Monday, he’d gotten very well acquainted with her abs, granted they weren’t the first thing he’d looked at, but they were definitely the last. 

“Are you okay? You seem to be struggling with your balance.” As soon as he heard Sakura speak to him, his body tensed. He was glad to be wearing a keikogi himself, that way they couldn’t see the hairs of his arms and legs standing on end from fear. 

“Y-yeah, sorry... I’m really exhausted... I think I’m done for the day...”

He thought giving in might set him free, but Tenko ended up forcing him to sit and watch her and Sakura fight, apparently it could be a good learning experience for him. In the end though, he was glad he had been made to stay. When those two gave it their all, it was a sight right out of an action movie. 

When they finished, the two joined Hajime, but despite the sweat, neither of them seemed exhausted. “Well Hajime? How was that as your first taster? Awesome right? You weren’t very impressive yourself, but we can work on that.” 

“Gee, thanks...”

Sakura nodded calmly. “You’re very lucky Hajime, you have a good body type. Long limbs and a wide chest, you have much promise as an athlete, outside of just martial arts. You also have a good teacher, even I find myself in awe of Tenko’s ability to teach.”

Due to the visible lack of external signs of exhaustion, the crimson blush that leaked onto Tenko’s cheeks was plain to see. “Aww, s-stop it. I’m not that good.”

Sakura tilted her head, smiling. “It’s a shame really, you don’t fully recognise the extent of your abilities. Someday, I imagine you will be teaching your craft to many more than just myself and Hajime.”

“Hmm? What do you mean? Doesn’t Tenko just do Aikido?”

Tenko beamed proudly, a confident thumb pointing at herself. “Heh-heh, I’m actually a student of Neo-Aikido, a form of the martial art that my Master and I created.” So basically... it’s not a real martial art. “And as you’re my pupil, that means you are the first male disciple of Neo-Aikido. You should be honoured Hajime.”

Hajime wasn’t so sure about that, but it’s not like he was about to contest two girls who could probably snap him in half if they looked at him with enough strength. “I... suppose so? Thank you... Master Tenko.”

As he said that, Sakura and Tenko bowed to each other. Oh, right, that’s a respect thing. As he joined Sakura in his bow to their Neo-Aikido teacher, he had to wonder what he could possibly be getting himself into. But would this be more or less dangerous than the NWP?

Thou art I... And I am thou... Thou hast established a new bond... 

It brings to thee a new hope...

Thou hast been blessed by the Chariot Arcana...

A hot sweat was what caused Hiyoko to start to stir. By the faint light filtering in through the window at the end of the hall, she could tell that it was nighttime but...

When her eyes finally adjusted to the dark, she noticed something odd. Actually, a couple of something’s. First off was what had caused her to start sweating so much; someone had wrapped her in a blanket, she wasn’t even in the same position she’d fallen asleep in, she’d been lain down, and even given a pillow. 

But what alarmed her the most was the fact that everything she’d left outside of Mahiru’s dorm was gone. Vanished. As if the day hadn’t happened at all. She wished it hadn’t, today sucked. But where did all the stuff go? Her heart wished that Mahiru had come out once she thought everyone was gone, taken in her birthday gifts, and given Hiyoko the blanket and pillow. Ah, she could just imagine it, Mahiru delicately wrapping her in her own bedsheets, making sure she was comfy before tucking her in. Hiyoko could practically feel Mahiru’s lips against her forehead, a sweet and motherly kiss goodnight...

Hiyoko’s head knew better though. More than likely Mikan and Ibuki had just come back and put all the things in their rooms so they could give them to Mahiru later. She wished desperately for her heart to be right, but deep down she knew it wasn’t. 

Before she could stand up to go back to her room though, she noticed that something had been left behind. Well, actually, it hadn’t been left behind at all, it had been purposely put there. A very cleanly cut slice of the cake that she’d made. She had a feeling that it was just Mikan and Ibuki again but...

Maybe she could allow for her fantasies to rule over reality for once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I’ve mentioned a couple of times in comments that I’ve ‘cheated’ with some of the Social Links, and Chariot is one of them. There are three that I wanted to include more than one character, like with Kou and Daisuke in Persona 4, but rather than having to pick one or the other I’d write both. However, in saying that, the two person Links will focus a little more on one character in the Link than the other, in this case Tenko is obviously going to take priority over Sakura. Of course, I didn’t just mash two characters together, they do still fit with the assigned Arcana. Hope this makes sense, because it’s actually something I’d like to see done more often in Persona myself. 
> 
> And if you want to know for the sake of Social Link speculation, the other two are Emperor and Empress (and yes it is a complete coincidence that I made those two specifically have the same gimmick).


	21. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re finally at the point where chapters are either going to get generally shorter, or contain multiple days now, since almost all of the ground work has been laid. Of course, that doesn’t mean the longer ones are going to disappear, but we’re at the point now where in a Persona game you’d be given a little more free range to do whatever you like until more main story happens.

Thursday, April 25th

Singlehandedly, Hiyoko had brought in an atmosphere so heavy that it was crushing to even stand outside their classroom. 

Hiyoko felt she had a right to it though. Who really gave a fuck anyway? No one cared why she was feeling so down, they only cared that that it might have been inconveniencing them by putting them in a bad mood. Oh, who was she kidding, no one in her class even cared that much. 

Her chin was getting sore resting on her desk top, but she refused to move herself. What was some minor chin pain in the grand scheme of things? Nothing, that’s what. No pain she could possibly inflict upon herself would even come close to matching the fierce stabbing she felt in her heart. 

And even then, that couldn’t have been anything like what Mahiru was feeling. Hiyoko wasn’t sure if was by delusion; fantasy or reality; but her image of what Mahiru could be doing behind literal closed doors was only getting worse everyday. The image of perfection she’d had in her mind the last time she saw Mahiru in person was crumbling, deforming... marred with scars, mangled by isolation...

She instinctively gripped her arms. Whenever she thought about Mahiru now, it wasn’t in a context of smiles and rainbows, nor did she remember her loving embrace or her maternal scolding. Now she just remembered a faint silhouette of someone she thought she knew, but was quickly discovering she couldn’t... she couldn’t quite remember. 

Before she could start to cry, a rectangle of light illuminated her face. 

“Playing games is the best way to cheer up... I think. Would you like to play together?”

Hiyoko couldn’t quite muster a scoff, the sound got caught somewhere in her throat. “Tch, no... go away...” Chiaki didn’t. She sat down besides Hiyoko and put a little carrying case next to the handheld she’d put on her desk. 

“I don’t know what sort of games you like... I’ve heard you enjoy Professor Layton and Pokémon though. Would you like to play one of those together?”

“I said, go away... leave me alone...”

Chiaki still didn’t. Instead she began thumbing through another, thinner carrying case she had. “If you’re stressed, would you like to play Animal Crossing? Fishing and bug catching will make all your stress fade away... I think. That’s how it is for me.” Chiaki’s smile was sickeningly sweet, to Hiyoko anyway. It was like a punch in the gut. Mahiru used to smile at her like that...

“Shut up! I told you to leave me alone!” She could feel the eyes of those in the classroom on her. The eyes of her teacher... of that spoiled Princess... of that luck bastard...

Still, Chiaki stayed, just as determined to be a pain as she usually was as the class rep. She puffed her cheeks out, using a similar pouting trick to the one that Hiyoko often used herself against her. “You’re just hurt is all Hiyoko. And together we’re going to make you heal. I don’t always play as the support role, but I like to think I’m quite good at it. So please...” She gently placed her hands over Hiyoko’s, prying them away from her arms. “You don’t need to be guarded. Just play with me. Even if it’s just to humour me.”

Dealing with Chiaki wasn’t something Hiyoko was ready for right now, so just giving in felt like the appropriate response. But she’d be lying if she said the kindness was wholly unappreciated. 

“So? We’re going back in tonight, right?” Tenko slammed her hand down on the table that she, Hajime, and Makoto were sitting at. This time they could actually stick to their pre-made after school arrangements and were briefly meeting at the cafe Hajime and Makoto has met at before. 

“Sorry Tenko, but I’d rather not. Exams are coming up, and that means my place in the Reserve Course is on the line. I doubt I would get kicked out, but I’d rather not risk it. I want to spend most of my evenings studying for a while, if it’s all the same to you.”

Makoto nodded in agreement. “I get what Hajime is saying, the first tests of the school year are coming up in just about two weeks Tenko, we can’t afford to be goofing around at night. I’m still going to try my best to gather intel, but my studies take priority I’m afraid. I’m uh... not quite as confident as Hajime in my performance skill...” He coyly rubbed the back of his head, looking down at the table as he did. 

Tenko on the other hand wore an expression of absolute terror. “W... what? Exams?! I didn’t know we had exams! Ahhhh, I haven’t prepared at all! Makoto, what are they about? Please tell me, I can’t lose my place at the schoooooooooollllllll!”

“Ah! Calm down Tenko, it’s okay. I think the only way to get removed from the Main Course is to get expelled, you’ll be fine. If you do badly I think you’ll just have to do some extra curricular stuff. That’s what some guys in my class did last year anyway.”

Tenko struck the table again, much more forcefully this time, which Hajime felt for sure meant that she might accidentally slice the poor, innocent table in two. “But any time spent doing chores for school cuts into training! And Himiko time! Those two things are very important! ...unless Himiko fails as well...”

Makoto suddenly stood up, perhaps to take Tenko’s mind away from potentially sabotaging her friend for her personal sake. “How about I order us some drinks, on me. What would you two like?”

“Thanks Makoto, I’ll just have some orange juice.”

Tenko’s forehead was pressed up against the table, but she still called out loud and clear. “Ginger tea for me please.”

As Makoto walked inside, Hajime suddenly began to feel the pressure of being alone with Tenko pile on top of him. What should he do in this situation? What was something he could talk about without getting accused of something?

“Hey... Tenko... so about training...”

Tenko’s head immediately shot up from the table, her confident smile returning. Geez, she jumped through emotions faster than anyone he’d ever met before. It was almost as scary as her fighting skill. “You aren’t getting out of it Hajime! As your Master, I won’t let you. But if you want, I can help you through some other forms of exercise.”

“Ah, thanks, but that wasn’t really what I wanted-“

“Hajime, gimme your phone number.” That was unexpected, but Tenko glided right over any implications that may have had. Of course she would, it’s not like she saw guys as an option anyway, right? “C’mon, it’ll make organising our training sessions much easier. Plus, we should totally make a group chat so we don’t have to meet in person everyone we need to talk as a team. We’ll look suspicious eventually if we all meet up so often after gather information about crimes.” That... was actually kind of a genius idea. Maybe that was overselling it, but it was a very good idea. Hajime was impressed to say the least, he really didn’t expect Tenko to be an ideas person, but she’d been pretty proactive with suggesting things so far. Maybe that was a part of her more assertive personality, especially when compared to Makoto and himself. 

“Alright... but you’ll have to ask Makoto for his.” Tenko nodded in understanding, and Makoto finally returned with their drinks as they wrapped up. 

They all engaged in light conversation as they drank, nothing too heavy, it was mostly just about revision strategies and Tenko’s lack-there-of. 

Upon finishing her tea, Tenko promptly stood up. “Alrighty then. I’ll set up our group chat, and we can get going back into the NWP as soon as test week is over, that cool?” The two boys hesitantly agreed, but Tenko took it in stride. “Great, then we’re done for the day. Tenko’s Justice Patrol, time to disperse!”

“... what?” Both Hajime and Makoto had the same question. 

“Uh, you know, our team name! You two weren’t thinking of anything, so, as leader, I took the initiative.”

“We didn’t decide on a leader though,” Makoto murmured.

“Oh hush, I’m the leader, and so I made the name.”

It was Hajime’s turn to stand up from the table, a friendly rivalry brewing between him and Tenko in that moment. He might lose to Tenko in terms of physical prowess, but he supposed he could at least measure up to her in debate. “Hey, come on Tenko, let’s discuss this. It’s an important decision that we should all come to unanimously.”

“Guys, this really isn’t worth fighting over...”

““Stay out of this Makoto!””

Hajime and Tenko thus began their back and forth for who was and wasn’t leader. No real progress was made, and they hadn’t even finished before the cafe staff ushered them off of the premises. So, unfortunately, as it currently stood, Tenko was team leader... 

Taking three deep breaths in and out, Hiyoko prepped her right arm, and charged at Mahiru’s door. She bounced off harmlessly, as she expected, but she tried again. And again. And again. With each slam of her small frame against the door, her grunts grew louder, more defiant, even as pain shot through her arm. 

She only slowed to a stop when her arm went so numb she couldn’t tell when she was colliding with the door anymore. She knew it would bruise, badly, but she didn’t care. This was her only answer now. 

At this point, she’d felt she’d tried everything to get through to Mahiru, so now she was going to do it literally. If she could break down the door, Mahiru would have to come out, or at least she would have no choice but to see Hiyoko because there was no more physical barrier between them. 

But she was too weak to do it in one go. It was going to be a laborious project, but she would destroy this door! For now though, she chose to go down to the lounge, she wanted to get some water from the water fountains, she was incredibly parched after all her attacks on Mahiru’s door. 

Somewhere during her attempts, evening had turned to night, which is certainly why she froze in fear when the front door of the dorm building swung open, it was like something out of a horror film. She half expected lightning to suddenly strike behind the person. Coming in was someone she hadn’t seen since her third year started, and she wasn’t keen on talking to him again. Not now. But he couldn’t keep his big mouth shut.

“Hey! What are you lookin’ at, bitch!” Everyone knew that Fuyuhiko spent about an equal amount of time staying in his family home as he did at the dorms, so Hiyoko wasn’t surprised about the fact that he had been gone from the dorms for a while. What she was surprised about was that he’d just appeared in the middle of the night... wielding a baseball bat, with a camera slung over his shoulder. 

Hiyoko didn’t want to bother with him, but the image of a body she’d seen a few weeks ago flashed into her mind. As did the baseball bat left by the corpse. If her body wasn’t rigid before, it definitely was now. “Wh... what are you doing? Why are you walking around so late?” She was trembling. Was it with fear? Yes, yes it was, but not for herself. 

“What? Got a problem with me taking some swings at night? For fucks sake, you’re such a judgmental bitch, I’ll do what I want, when I want to, thanks. Whatever, night.” Her anxiety eased a little when he walked over to the boys side of the dorm building, but that didn’t mean all of her anxiety was gone. She still had to wonder why he had the camera and bat in the first place. If he was going to the boys dorms, then it wasn’t for what she feared it might be. 

Her thirst all but forgotten, she ran back up the stairs in a desperate panic. It was irrational, she knew that, but she refused to risk it. 

It would be uncomfortable, but she resolved to camp directly outside Mahiru’s door tonight. That way, she would know if Fuyuhiko was actually going to do what she thought he might. There was no way she would let her best friend die. And if it was unstoppable, then at least she’d die with her.


	22. Chapter 20

Friday, April 26th

Mikan screamed in abject terror as the door to the nurses office was slammed open, quickly followed up with Ibuki running and and gripping her shoulders. “Miiiiiiiiikkkkaaaaaaannnnnn! Problem! Big problem! Ultra mega scary problem!”

Barely managing to even process Ibuki’s words, Mikan was on the verge of tears from how vigorously Ibuki had started to shake her. “Ahhhhhh, Ibuki stop! P-please t-t-t-tell me normally... without a-all the shaking...”

Letting go of Mikan’s shoulders, Ibuki squashed her hands against Mikan’s cheeks instead. “Mikan! I’ve lost Hiyoko! And not in the sense that Ibuki forgot her hand luggage when getting off the plane, no, this is like if Ibuki left her house without picking up her guitar case!”

“I-Ibuki, I have n-no idea what that means... what are you trying to tell me?” Mikan had tried to read Ibuki’s face, but as ever it was such a garbled mess of over exaggerated emotion that she wasn’t sure what to take from her. 

This time, Ibuki entirely retreated from invading Mikan’s personal space, and began screaming up at the ceiling. “Ibuki means she can’t find Hiyoko! She wasn’t in for registration like she usually is, and no one else has seen her. Mikan, she’s vanished, like, poof, gone, vamoose, catch-you-never GONE! We’re being picked off like... like... like kids in a killing game!”

Since Ibuki was being so dramatic, Mikan had to assume it wasn’t really that big a deal to her. Hiyoko was stressed out, she probably just wanted a day off. That was completely understandable after what had happened lately. And she was sure Ibuki understood that too. “P-please Ibuki... I think Hiyoko has earned some time off. We can go visit her later i-if you want, I’m sure she’s just in her room. But can you please leave for now! I-I’m busy doing a check-up for Nagito...”

Ibuki peered past Mikan, finally noticing that Nagito had been there the whole time as well, sat on one of the tables just staring off into space while she harassed Mikan. With her eyes darting between Nagito and Mikan, she shifted into a different mode of dramatic, the back of one of her hands against her forehead as she pretended to stumble back in a daze. “Gah! No! Say it ain’t so! Have I... finally been abandoned? My friends, they fell from my side until it was just the two of us, and now... and now a man has driven us apart...!”

Nervously, Mikan waved her hands in front of her as Nagito chuckled dryly behind her. “I-Ibuki, c-come on, it’s nothing like that! Didn’t I s-say I’d come with you after school to see Hiyoko? I p-promise I haven’t abandoned you... but if you’re going to be like this, I-I’m going to have to a-ask you to l-l-leave...! Umm, I’m sorry!” She really didn’t need to, but she bowed to Ibuki as she said it, even though it was Ibuki who was being an inconvenience, not her. 

Regardless, Ibuki got the message. “Aww, okay... I’m sorry.” There was an awkward moment of silence in the nurses office. It made Mikan realise that Ibuki hadn’t been wrong, there was something that was driving them apart, granted it definitely wasn’t Nagito, but there was still... oh, of course she knew what it was, she wasn’t the dumb. 

“You know, I would be happy to take over from here Mikan. You can go off with Ibuki for a while, and I’ll take care of myself for a while. That sound good?” His easy smile was striking, but behind every kindly look from Nagito was something sinister- usually not deliberately on his part, but that aura always hung around him.

“H-huh? N-no, I couldn’t possibly-“

“Relax, I’ve seen you administer my medication hundreds of times. I may not be quite on the level of an Ultimate, but have some faith in me. What could go wrong?” There was that unintentional foreboding again...

“Hnnggg... f-fine... come on Ibuki, I’ll join you for a little while. B-be careful Nagito! A-and if you’re unsure about anything, umm... just wait for me, o-okay? I’ll be back soon.”

Mikan quickly scurried out of the office. Before Ibuki joined her, she skipped on over to Nagito, playfully ruffling his soft mess of hair. “Heh-heh, thanks wingman, you nailed it!” Poking her tongue out in an equally playful manner, she ran on out after Mikan with her over abundance of energy. 

“Ah, she didn’t even give me time to respond. Heh, as if anyone really needs my help. I just happened to give things a little push, nothing special. But I’m surprised Mikan would allow me free reign in here knowing full well I wouldn’t be able to even find the medicine I need, let alone actually administer it. Oh, it must be the genius brain of an Ultimate, knowing that I would be helpless without her, so I’ll be forced to rely on her as much as possible. Oh, if only other people were so open with their expressions of emotions! Truly Mikan, you are a diamond amongst other gems in this wonderful school!” Standing from the table he was sat on, he wandered around the office, scoping out the various vials and bottles in all of the cabinets. “Now... what do we have here?”

Despite her stoic expression, Makoto could feel Kyoko’s tension wafting off of her. Not that she smelled of tension, whatever that would smell like, it was more like he just knew based on her aura that she wasn’t in her usually dauntless state of mind. “Kyoko... is there anything I can do to help? I’m no detective, but maybe I can offer a new spin on things!” As she often was, Kyoko was sitting alone in the cafeteria. When it wasn’t lunch period, the place was usually pretty quiet, and today was no different. 

Whenever he spoke to Kyoko about any of her cases now, his stomach would twist itself into knots, and he felt as if his chest was tightening around his lungs. He hated that he had to lie to her just because he needed to get information from her, but it had to be done... it was a necessary evil. That’s what he’d tell himself at least, and it’s not as if he was going to keep everything from her forever, he just needed his own big break in the case. “I appreciate you asking Makoto, but it isn’t a matter of struggling to figure out the answers to my cases, I’ve simply been assigned more and more. Almost as if I’m being kept busy...”

“W-why do you say that Kyoko?”

Wordlessly, Kyoko flipped the files she’d been looking over around, and slid them across the table to Makoto. “Take a look. All of them have already been solved. There is one thing other than that linking them all together though. Do you know what it is?” The question felt like a challenge, and one Makoto didn’t wish to fail.

Taking a look over the files, Makoto could feel his blood running cold. To describe the photos within the files as disturbing would be putting it too lightly. A majority of the files contained victims of yakuza-oriented crime, even down to a revenge case against a local group that was committed by a high schooler. The photos for that case were particularly sickening, holes torn clean through body upon body, each one mangled in a seemingly unique spot, but all possessing the same holes in their bodies. Makoto quickly flipped past that one, it was making him dizzy just looking at the words on the page, let alone looking at the enclosed photographs. The only other file that caught his eye as unique was the Genocide Jack case file. Everyone in Japan must’ve been familiar with this one, but as far as he was aware this was still an ongoing case, despite the fact that there hadn’t been any reported killings by him in about a year. “Umm... sorry Kyoko, I don’t know. Is it... that all of these cases have ties to students?”

Kyoko lifted a gloved hand to her chin as she smiled. “I think that’s close enough. More specifically, all of these cases have links to students attending our school. Almost all of those yakuza cases have direct ties to the Kuzuryu Clan. The student who killed those mafia members to avenge his loved ones? He is currently a first year here. And Genocide Jack? That’s... none of your concern, but rest assured that that case has been solved by now and that the perpetrator has been discovered. Beyond that connection though, there is something of an underlying theme to all of the specific cases I have been reassigned to.” She gave Makoto a look that prompted an answer to her unspoken question, and when he failed to respond she grinned and continued her explanation. “There are certain moral quandaries to all of these cases in particular. Most deal with revenge schemes. The first year criminal, the yakuza cases, all of them had their foundations within revenge.”

Again, Kyoko gave Makoto a question without actually asking it. This time though, Makoto thought he knew how to answer. “And because of the fact that they were done in revenge... not everyone can say that they were entirely wrong to do what they did?”

Kyoko flashed a satisfied smile at Makoto, the type that caused his cheeks to flush and swell with pride. “Well done. Genocide Jack as well, as he was always suspected to have some form of personality disorder. As such, if the primary host for the body is not the mass murderer, would it be justice to incarcerate them? The conclusion the police came to was no, and instead wanted to use some type of therapy.” Therapy huh? Makoto has heard about that recently as well, Hajime had said that the NWP was apparently a built for use as some type of therapy device. Was that a link? “Makoto? What is it?”

Oh shoot, he’d been caught thinking about that possibility. Normally that wouldn’t be an issue, but with Kyoko... she was liable to see right through him. “Oh, sorry, I was just thinking... uhh... if these cases were all solved, why were they given back to you?”

Kyoko sighed. It was a heavy one, not the type Makoto heard from her very often. “That’s what the problem is. I just don’t know. Perhaps I’m trying to be told something, or reminded of something... I suppose my current big case is quite the brain teaser, so that possibility may be close to the truth.”

Makoto’s fingers gripped the table. For some reason he was becoming more and more tense as this conversation was progressing. He wasn’t entirely sure why, but the question forming in his mind only worsened the feeling in his gut. “Can’t you... ask your partner for help? I’m sure he would be able to offer an interesting opinion.”

Kyoko shook her head, her slight frown overtaking her smile from before. “No, I’ve already asked his opinion. And he already has his hands full with his own set of extra cases, I wouldn’t want to burden a new detective with too much. Besides, I already have my own theory as to the truth.” After her final statement, the pair fell into a silence. While for Kyoko it was more than comfortable as she collected up her sheets and files, it was closer to a living hell for Makoto. 

The worst part was, he couldn’t quite pin down why. Part of it had to be guilt, but there were other parts of his pain that swarmed him from unknown sources. He’d never been very good at understanding his own feelings, but this was ridiculous...

Just as she’d done for Mahiru before, Ibuki pounded away at Hiyoko’s door. To her own dismay however, Hiyoko wasn’t answering. “Oh, c’mon... Hiyoko open up for us! Ibuki needs friends to get through the school day!”

The little whine that came from Mikan as she said that quickly prompted an apology and reassurance that they were still friends. But still there was nothing from Hiyoko. “I-Ibuki, like I told y-you, she’s probably just resting. Let’s give her some space for t-today, and come back tomorrow. I’m sure she’s fine.”

Ibuki babbled some unintelligible noises as a response, but didn’t stop tapping the door completely. Hmm, this scene felt familiar... “But Mikaaaaaaaannnn! Ibuki can’t spend the day all alone! That would be super bad for morale!”

Mikan nervously fiddled with her fingers as she shuffled on the spot. “I’m s-sorry Ibuki, but I have to go, I don’t really have a-“ Mikan felt something thin poke into her back. Screaming, she tumbled forward to ‘escape’ whatever had touched her, which ultimately led to her bowling into Ibuki, both of them ending up on the floor for once, rather than just Mikan. 

Hiyoko’s sadistic laugh washed over the two, relieving much of Ibuki’s tension at the very least. She would’ve laughed herself if she could breathe right now... Ack, she couldn’t breathe!

“H-H-Hiyoko?! What are you doing?! Why are you out of your room?” Mikan mumbled from the floor, only somewhat shifting off of Ibuki.

Hiyoko scoffed, a condescending glare darkening her face. “Me? I’m more interested to know what you’re doing on the floor. I’m pretty sure falling like that is basically sexual harassment. Whatever, just get off the floor, you dirty pigs!”

Mikan scurried off of Ibuki’s chest once she realised that after moving she was basically just sitting on her chest. “Ah! I-I’m so sorry Ibuki, a-are you okay?” She offered out her hand, and Ibuki happily took it, even if her grip was a little shaky after being deprived of oxygen for a short while. 

“Uggghhh, Ibuki’s conflicted... on one hand, what a way to go, Ibuki almost suffocated in those healthy melons at first, so that’d be pretty lucky! But...” She held her hands up to her chest in a cupping motion. “You’re so big, after being sat on, Ibuki thinks they’re even smaller than before...”

“Hah, hear that pig shit? She just called you fat!” Hiyoko again cackled as she threw a gummy bear into her mouth, her arms filled with packets of the gummies. 

Although Mikan whined for a brief moment, she quickly turned her attention back to Hiyoko. “Ah, Hiyoko, w-where were you? Ibuki was w-worried about you after... umm... recent events.”

Hiyoko pouted, but it wasn’t really her usual playfully dismissive one. This one felt a tad more melancholic. “Ugh, I just wanted a day out of school. Plus, I wanted to pick up some supplies for my newest project.” Hiyoko waved the numerous bags of candy in front of Mikan’s face, likely taunting the health expert.

Before Mikan could go into why eating too many sweets was bad for you, Ibuki bounced back in. “Well if you’re okay, wanna come back to school with Ibuki? You wouldn’t wanna keep little ol’ Ibuki by herself all day, would ya?”

As soon as Hiyoko blew a raspberry at Ibuki as her response, their usual brand of friendly arguing ensued, with Mikan trying and failing to act as an intermediary. Ibuki was usually happy whenever she had a verbal showdown with Hiyoko, she found them bizarrely fun due to the profanities Hiyoko would often throw out, but this one filled her with a little extra joy than usual. It felt good to have their usual dynamic for a while... even with the ominously overbearing shadow of Mahiru’s door right next to them.

Himiko has been intending to go down to the gym after school today. It had become part of her every-other-day routine to watch Tenko practice aikido, or whatever other sport she was trying out. What she hadn’t intended to do today was get cornered by Kaito just outside of the doors to the gym. 

“So, uh, how do I put this? You’ve been getting closer to Shuichi, yeah? Well, I’d hate to ask, but could you stop?”

Himiko tilted her head, a slight strain beginning to form within her chest. “H-huh...? Do you... want me to stop being friends with Shuichi?”

Kaito immediately waved his hands in denial. “What? No, of course not! I meant that you need to stop getting closer to him. You know, ‘closer’ closer.” Kaito smiled his big toothy smile as if what he said meant absolutely nothing. 

Himiko had had no intention of that sort of thing with Shuichi anyway, but that didn’t stop her heart from starting to pound and her face turning beet red. “N-nyeh... that’s okay... I wasn’t trying to do that anyway... romance just sounds like a pain...”

Kaito appeared somewhat shocked. At the very least he pulled back a bit. “Wait, really? But you looked so chummy when you were together the other day...” What? Was Kaito spying on them when she went to talk to Shuichi about Tenko? Oh no, did he see her sleeping on him? “Anyway, that’s great news! See, I’ve been working on setting up my bro and Maki Roll, so I really didn’t need anyone swooping in to steal either of them. I wanted to get Kaede to help me with it, but as soon as I told her I wanted to set up Maki Roll with Shuichi, she said that I shouldn’t get involved. But they’re my sidekicks, of course I need to get involved. They’re both still weak, and when I go to space, I can’t bring them with me, they need to be able to fend for themselves. But if they come together, then they’ll never have to worry about being alone again. You know what I mean, right?”

Kaito hadn’t let Himiko get a word in edgewise, so she had no real opportunity to point out his awful logic, dumb idea, and flawed perception of how emotions worked. Even though he’d asked her a question, she could tell he wasn’t listening, just smiling like an idiot. “Nyeh... I guess? Do whatever you want...”

“Right? I knew it was a good idea. So, whenever I need your help for one of my genius plans, I’ll come grab ya, okay? Okay!” And in the blink of an eye, and the clicking of Kaito’s fingers, Himiko had found herself sucked into the worst matchmaking scheme she’d ever heard of in her life. She didn’t even have the opportunity to input her opinion, Kaito just made the decision for her and bolted. Damn it, what fresh hell had she gotten herself into? At least it might give her something to do on the many days she did absolutely nothing.


	23. Chapter 21

Saturday, April 27th

As far as Kyoko had been concerned, today was going to be another standard school day for her, hours of pondering over a case that had no real answer to deduce before the weekend where she’d have a brief reprieve so she could study for her actual school work. But things suddenly took a turn for the ‘better’ just before she left school for the day. 

Usually she was one of the last students to leave the academy on any given day, and this Saturday was no different. That gave someone a perfect opportunity to track her down and get her alone. 

He hadn’t said anything, just offered her a bottle, a calm yet devious smile on his face. “Nagito Komaeda, correct? What are you doing? And why are you trying to give me a bottle of trichloromethane?” She carefully took the bottle from him, of course, giving it a quick once over before he could manage to say anything. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with it, per say...

“Oh, that little thing? Well, I was left alone in the nurses office yesterday when I came across that bottle. Now, maybe I’m off the mark, but I spend a lot of time in that office, and I have never once seen the nurse use that bottle of... chloroform, I believe? And to be sure, I asked her yesterday. She told me that she’s never had to use it before. But lo and behold, that bottle is certainly not full, is it?”

Kyoko immediately understood what Nagito was getting at. “You find this suspicious, yes? I can’t deny the possibility that at least one of the recent victims had this used against them, but I’m afraid this isn’t enough to go off of.”

Nagito grinned, this time looking significantly more overtly threatening. “Ahh-hah-hah... then I believe I have another treat for you, miss detective. Consider it my testimony. I hear about a lot of things in that nurses room, but there was something that caught my attention recently. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say... two someones?” His smile curled with malice, utter disgust dripping from every corner of his mouth. “There have been two people that weren’t in any particular harm that came by recently, and their purposes were not the same as most Reserve Course students. I believe you are aware of Yasuke Matsuda? According to the nurse, he has been coming by the office lately. She tells me it’s to drop off medical papers of some sort, but she gives him free access to the room, even when she isn’t there. And there was one other. A Reserve Course student who has never been there before. Apparently suffering from some mysterious muscle pain. If you ask me, they both sound suspicious.”

Nagito had had a lot to say, but Kyoko figured it was worth hearing. While she still believed that what he was giving her was too little to go on, it was actually something new, and that was exactly what she needed. “Hmm... Thank you for the information. Though I cannot act simply upon what you’ve told me, I must corroborate your statements with the nurse herself, what you’ve told me is valuable information.” And if there was a lead there, that should be enough to finally allow her access to the tech lab legitimately for a thorough investigation. 

The animosity that had overflowed from Nagito before had by now dissipated, and he promptly turned away from Kyoko. “I’m glad I could be of service detective. After all, I do feel quite personally invested in these cases. They have had an effect on my classmates you know.” Without any other words, Nagito strolled away, as if their conversation had just been one between two friends casually chatting after school. 

It was rather annoying that he had come to her on the last day of the school week, but at least he’d come forward at all. Besides, including the nurse, there were now three people potentially connected to the case that would need to be thoroughly investigated and interrogated. 

“Wow... isn’t this his job? Ugh, typical degenerate behaviour...” Tenko had been antsy all day, she hated studying, but now that she knew that that was keeping her away from a prime training spot, it only made her despise book learning even more. Against her better judgement, she’d decided to sneak back into school tonight, and maybe convince Hajime to let her go into the NWP to train, but apparently that wouldn’t be an issue, because when she snuck her way into the tech lab, she found Hajime asleep, sitting at an empty desk that spanned quite a lot of one side of the room, even spilling over to a bunch computers with pictures of brain schematics on them further in.

Whatever the case, with Hajime asleep, she could get into the NWP no problem, though considering he was both asleep and left the door to the room unlocked, Tenko worried for the safety of the room and all the stuff inside. Hajime was supposed to be a security guard, right? If so, he was doing the worlds worst job of it. 

It made her quest a tad easier though, so she just had to figure out how exactly to get into the Programme again...

Upon entering the system, Tenko found herself just outside of what looked to be a set of cottages. Oh, right, she vaguely remembered this, this was the place they had to go when leaving the island, right? She’d been pretty much entirely unconscious the last time they all left, so she really only put that together through some context clues. 

To her delight though, it seemed that she wouldn’t have to rely on her own brain to carry her through this trip, because just down the walkway was Usami, who noticed Tenko at just about the same time, promptly waddling over. Now that Tenko could look past the absurdity of a talking bipedal rabbit, she actually thought Usami was pretty cute. “Ah, Tenko! Good to see you! Are you... where are Hajime and Makoto?”

“Oh, they aren’t coming. It’s just me today. I wanted to test this place out, see how good it could be for my training. Plus...” Tenko flashed a bright smile, striking a battle pose. “I hope I can awaken to my Persona. I’d hate to be a burden the next time we all have a big fight. After last time, I’m not so sure I need it, but any extra power is nice. And I’ve always wanted to try adding some magic to my Neo Aikido!” Tenko quickly broke her battle stance, her new pose brimming with childish excitement as she waved her arms back and forth. 

Usami too possessed an air of excitement, almost as if influenced by Tenko’s own passion. “Oh, that sounds like a wonderful idea Tenko! Why don’t we explore the second island together? I’m sure we can find some weaker Shadows to test your skills against.”

“Hmm? A new island opened up?”

Usami nodded, and began to waddle away, onto the first island proper, waving for Tenko to follow. “Yes, actually. One of the gates opened up by itself... it must’ve been soon after the boys saved you. Come on, let’s go explore it together!”

Tenko did jog after Usami, but a small part of her felt that it wasn’t the greatest idea to go to the new island by themselves. It was just this weird gut feeling she had, but it was a very strong one. Maybe she just needed to lighten up with some small talk... “Hey, Usami? Do you have a Persona?”

Usami’s head drooped, letting out a soft sigh. “No, I don’t... though I also haven’t met my own Shadow yet, so I’m sure I can get one! I just... don’t know how long I’ll have to wait...”

“Hey, cheer up! If you haven’t seen it yet, that must mean it’s trapped on a different island, yeah? Which probably means that your Shadow is quite powerful. And you know what that means?”

“... that the darkness in my heart is stronger than anyone else’s?”

“What?! No! That your Persona is going to be super powerful, duh!” Usami perked up at that thought, the mini spring put back in her step. 

“Oh, I never thought about that Tenko. But I guess you’re right, the most powerful party members are usually kept locked behind the late game.” Tenko chuckled, but she was clueless as to what Usami meant. Sounded like some video game terms, but she wasn’t overly familiar with those, there wasn’t really any electricity back in the dojo, so she hadn’t really had exposure to that sort of thing when she was growing up. 

As the pair approached the bridge to the second island, Usami told Tenko to stop walking. And she could see why. In front of the gate was a small mass of what looked to be sludge. Actually, on a second look, it wasn’t a single mass, but a lot of smaller beings, each adorned with what looked like a mask. Usami ushered Tenko into a nearby bush, hopefully out of the line of sight of the blobs. “Usami, what are those things? They look... uh... gross.”

Usami didn’t take her eyes off of the sludge piles, but they soon crawled off across the bridge, onto the second island. “Those are Shadows, but they aren’t like the type that come from us, like yours did when you were here. I don’t really know the lore behind them yet, but if your Shadows are the boss battles, those ones are the generic trash mobs.” Once again, Tenko was at a loss for whatever terminology Usami just used, but she understood the gist of it to mean that those things were the weak kinds of Shadows.

“Alright, then I guess we’ve found exactly what we were looking for! Let’s go beat them up!” Leaping out from the bush, Tenko sprinted towards the bridge, Usami tottering behind her, calling out in protest.

“W-wait! Don’t run ahead Tenko! Those aren’t the only type of generics! There are stronger ones too!” Tenko ground to a halt just before reaching the bridge, though it took a moment for Usami to catch up, her tiny legs meaning that she couldn’t particularly run very fast. 

“Huh? What, are there like three tiers of Shadow or something? The human Shadows, those little things, and ones in between?” The panting Usami nodded her head. 

“Y-yes... hang on... haaaaaah... okay. Yes, so, it’s pretty much like you said. These other Shadows aren’t quite on the level of mini bosses, but they are still a lot more powerful than your average Shadow. I think you’ll know one when you see it.”

“Sounds good to me! They’ll be the perfect things to practise my moves on!”

The two barely crossed the bridge onto the second island when they had been set upon by small Shadows. They weren’t particularly threatening, Tenko found she could usually destroy one in one or two hits, though their small size did mean that she struggled to grapple with them- her actual aikido skills weren’t of much value compared to her natural strength. 

Usami wasn’t having too tough a time of it either, with a few smacks from her wand she could usually make a Shadow disappear in a puff of smoke. Sometimes she’d even just run into them hard enough and they’d be destroyed. 

But the ease with which the two were destroying the small hoard of Shadows was somewhat disconcerting to Tenko. She expected them to be weak, but they were much flimsier than she’d ever imagined. Then again, they did just keep coming. Even in a battle of attrition, Tenko was positive that her and Usami would still win, but...

Something was wrong. This was too easy. And that’s when Tenko saw them. Two of what she imagined were those stronger generics that Usami was talking about. They were unlike any other Shadow she’d seen, so that had to be the case. Actually, in saying that, they kind of looked a bit like Usami, didn’t they?

The two new Shadows were distinctly more bear in shape than Usami; the black and white bears cackled whilst watching them destroy all the Shadows that came for them. Each bear had a gleaming red eye, and when those eyes locked with Tenko’s, a chill ran through her body. A simple glare informed her that she’d been way in over her head to come here thinking she could fight without backup. “Usami... I think we should run...”

As soon as Usami turned her head towards the bears, she shrieked. Clearly she agreed. But neither had time to start running before the two bears charged. Despite sharing similar anatomy to Usami, the bears moved much faster, like they were gliding across the ground, claws like scythes sliding out of their paws. 

For a weapon like that, Tenko knew she’d have to prioritise avoiding attacks, but that was only if the bears could catch them. Grabbing Usami by her ears, Tenko threw her up onto her shoulders, and began to run as fast as she could back towards the central island. While the added weight of Usami did slow her down, she could still outpace the bears, if only barely. But when she reached the central island, and she turned to start running towards the first, a sharp pain blitzed through her sides when a third bear ambushed them as soon as they’d crossed the bridge. 

The shock caused her to drop Usami, the rabbit rolling away to... somewhere out of her immediate line of sight. Tenko didn’t have the luxury of worrying about Usami though, with three of the Shadow bears now on her tail, she had to escape herself before she could worry about anyone else. As she continued to sprint away, this time getting a much better distance from the bears, she realised that, when one of the bears claws had sliced into her, it, well, hadn’t. Or it looked like it hadn’t. There wasn’t a single sign that she was hurt, which made no sense considering that Tenko was well aware of how dangerous those claws should have been. 

Tenko didn’t have much time to think on that though, there were even more of the bears up ahead, blocking the bridge back to the first island. With little other choice, Tenko ran to the right, following the path that took her into the park on the central island. With all the Shadows around her, it felt to her as if they had been funnelling her to this spot, and when she actually arrived at the central statue those suspicions were all but confirmed. 

It was only now that Tenko realised just how erratically her heart was pumping, or noticed the cold sweat beading down her face, strands of her hair sticking to her forehead. The lump forming in her throat only worsened was she gazed upon the being in the park. She’d really run the full gambit today, hadn’t she? The little guys, the new bears... and now a boss. 

The Shadow within the park didn’t actually seem hostile, but it certainly looked deadly. Gatling guns built into a study metal shell that vaguely resembled some kind of heavily modified chair, two gleaming chrome wheels resting just as idle at the Shadows side as the actual body. What would have been the seat was instead a TV screen, static buzzing across the cracked face of the device. The most out of place part of the whole thing though were the two sirens placed atop the back of the chair, they were clearly in use, the cones of both vibrating, but Tenko could hear no sound coming from them. 

But once more Tenko didn’t have a chance to further think on the topic. The bears had entered the park. And there were certainly more than before, maybe seven or eight now, all with their claws extended, mocking snarls adorning all of their faces. She was surrounded. She was alone. Her chances of victory against so many foes who were so allegedly powerful were slim. 

But Tenko had never been one to give up. And she refused to die here, alone, where no one would know of her death.

Clearing her mind, she deeply inhaled and exhaled once, folding her arms into a battle stance, extending her legs to prepare for an evasive strategy. Yet it all seemed for naught when a mind numbing ringing cut a direct path through her subconscious. 

An odd paradox of her limbs locking into place, yet quivering as if in fear suddenly took over her body, her heels digging into the ground, the ringing permeated her mind. In an instant, she knew what was happening, and it couldn’t have really come at better time. Maybe these things just made a habit of only manifesting when they were absolutely necessary. 

“I am thou... thou art I...”

A grin slipped onto Tenko’s face as she cried, “PERSONA!”

An inferno raged from where Tenko stood as her body was engulfed in a majestic blue light, the heat of the flames pushing the advancing bears back, though curiously not damaging any of the greenery in the park. Rising from within Tenko, her Persona began to take shape. Flowing golden locks twisted around the masculine, yet also effeminate, body, originating from a head whose face was entirely covered by a bright pink mask in the shape of a love heart. While its hair was the only thing resembling clothes that the Persona wore, it, like Makoto’s, was relatively featureless in terms of anatomy, aside from the reddish-pink veins that blossomed our across its body, crisscrossing to create two large symmetrical hearts- one on its chest and back. Two great white angelic wings burst free from its back too, the bases of which aligning with one half of the heart each, though they were clearly more ornate than practical, as they were folded back slightly, the tips of both wings connected by a bow string. 

Tenko stretched out her arms, limbering them up a bit while she had the chance. “Alright! Let’s show these fools our burning passion Eros!” Snapping her fingers, Tenko darted to the right, her foot colliding with the head of one of the bears, all while Eros, in a display of athleticism similar to Tenko’s, bent forward, its legs folding over its back, its feet tugging on the bow string with dexterity usually reserved for hands. An arrow of pure fire materialised in the bow string, soon shot directly at one of the Shadows, engulfing it in flames. “Amazing...! Keep it up Eros, we’re killing it!”

Perhaps it was the confidence boost from fighting alongside her Persona, but any apprehension Tenko had been feeling disappeared whilst she was fighting. Every attack from the bears she could nimbly dodge with just a sidestep or a flip in any given direction, allowing her a chance to counter without being scratched. Eros seemingly had just as easy a time of it; though she wasn’t watching, Tenko could feel heat radiating behind her. And she must’ve been right to be confident, because in no time at all, the bears had been vanquished, torn apart by her hands, or burnt to cinders. 

That’s when the bigger Shadow made its first move. Tenko could hear the mechanical whirring before anything even physically changed about it, but that didn’t prepare her for the chair to start firing bullets at her. She adopted a defensive stance, arms shielding her face, but she knew that that wouldn’t stop bullets of all things. Although the shells didn’t hurt as much as she thought they would when the barrage rained down on her, she could still feel the stinging from them after she dropped her arms. 

“C-come on Eros, let’s... Eros?” Tenko had intended to launch a fiery counter attack herself, but she couldn’t... Eros had returned to her, and was seemingly incapable of giving any more than it had already. What, had she run out of, like, magic power, or something?

The whirring of the guns started up again, but before Tenko needed to brace herself, from the nearby shrubbery, Usami came barrelling towards the Shadow, unbalancing it when her body collided with the machine, disrupting the attack. “Q-quick Tenko! Let’s escape while we can!”

Tenko hated to admit it, but Usami was right. She doubted if the two of them could defeat this one without Hajime and Makoto. “Ahhh, alright, let’s run back to the first island. Cover us Eros!” She may have run dry of her magic, but Eros had other means of attacking- pulling its bow string the same way as before, ethereal arrows formed on the string, and as much as Tenko wanted to watch the assault, she took that as her chance to run, scooping up the tottering Usami as she did. 

Thankfully, for the first time tonight, they actually went somewhere without some disaster befalling them. They arrived at the cottages without any further harm befalling either of them, even Eros had returned unharmed, although Tenko wasn’t so sure if a Persona could even be harmed anyway...

Dropping Usami, Tenko finally let herself begin panting, her shoulders sagging as the stress of the fight both circled and abandoned her body, a vicious cycle of fatigue. “Man... I think I might’ve cut that a bit too close... I guess I should’ve listened to the others when they said we should only come in together...”

“But you were very cool Tenko! Very cool indeed. In fact, all three of you are pretty cool, to me anyway.” Tenko smiled at the compliment, giving Usami a short lived thumbs up. 

“Th-thanks... I appreciate the c-compliment... I should probably be heading back now though, I need a rest... and hey, you be careful too Usami, now we know that there’s another big Shadow around here, we’ll all have to be careful when we come in here again...”

The farewell they shared ended on that bitter note. There was another Shadow prowling Jabberwock, but what did that mean? It was someone’s Shadow, right? Had someone else been in here recently? Or maybe... maybe it belonged to one of the victims? It was something she’d need to discuss with the others, but tomorrow was Sunday, so they should both be free to meet up. 

Arriving back in the tech lab, Tenko’s body was more sore than it had ever been before, it felt like every inch of skin she possessed was in aching pain, and stretching only worsened the feeling. But she suddenly realised she was probably about to visit a whole other dimension of pain. The verbal kind too...

As if waiting for her, Hajime stood, cross armed, glaring at her from by where he’d been napping. Tenko began to nervously laugh. “N-now... I know what this looks like... b-but I promise I can explain! Besides, it was all worth while. Boy, do I have a story for you, heh-heh... heh... are you mad?”


	24. Chapter 22

Sunday, April 28th

“Look, I said I’m sorry! Can’t we just move on now?”

Just as they had done last week, Makoto and Hajime had met outside of the dorms so that they could spend the day together (well, Komaru would be there too), but to Makoto’s surprise Tenko had interrupted them before they could leave. Makoto wasn’t sure what was going on, but he’d clued into the fact that something had happened between Hajime and Tenko. 

“Tenko, you put yourself in danger, and after we all promised to not go into the NWP alone. Aren’t you supposed to be the leader?” The last part was bitingly sarcastic, but at least it meant Makoto could finally understand what was going on. 

“Fine, I admit it, I was a little too eager and made a rash decision because of that. But I promise I can make up for it with the information I found while in there.”

Despite Tenko’s instance, Hajime wasn’t budging. “What would that information be worth if you’d gotten yourself killed Tenko?”

Tenko didn’t have a rebuttal for that, and it looked to Makoto as if Hajime had regretted saying it, or at least in the way he said it. It felt like it was time for Makoto to try and intervene. “Hajime... I know how you feel, and you’re mostly right, but Tenko is okay, isn’t she? So instead of focusing on ‘what ifs’, why don’t we listen to what she has to say? Oh, actually, Tenko, we were going to hang out together after this, do you want to join us? My sister will be there too, so don’t worry about being the only girl there.”

Tenko perked right up after Makoto’s defence of her. “Thanks Makoto. Huh, that actually wasn’t that bad of a resolution effort. Good job. But if you want me to hang out with you... can I bring a friend? She’ll be lonely without me today.”

Hajime just shrugged, but Makoto gave her an affirming nod. “Sure, I don’t see why not. We can wait here while you go get her, if that’s okay.”

Smiling, Tenko ran back inside of the dorms. But as soon as she disappeared, Hajime spoke up again. “You were way too easy on her Makoto. It doesn’t matter what the outcome was, she shouldn’t have gone in without us.”

Makoto sighed as he looked up at Hajime. “Come on Hajime. I know you’re only mad because you’re looking out for her, but it’s just a part of her personality. She’s headstrong and she does what she wants, there isn’t really a way to stop people like that...” The smile that crossed Makoto’s face as his eyes drifted towards the ground indicated to Hajime that he wasn’t entirely talking about Tenko, but he didn’t press it. 

“I guess, but... I dunno, it just doesn’t sit right with me.”

Softly laughing, Makoto’s gaze returned to Hajime. “I think that’s a good thing. It’s part of your personality, isn’t it? And in a small team like ours, we need a personality like yours, just like we need one like Tenko’s. As we are, we’re like... like symbiotic parts in a machine. Tenko’s like a cog that’s always in motion, and you’re the bolt that keeps her from flying out of the machine. Which I guess makes me the oil that ensures we can all keep working together when we hit a rough patch... or I guess a ‘rust’ patch, in this case, heh-heh.”

“Heh... I can’t tell if that was really cool, or really lame...” Both of them laughed, though Makoto’s was far more sheepish than Hajime’s dry one. “But I guess you aren’t wrong. It was an almost poetic description of us.”

“You think so? Well, I’m just glad I can bring something to the team, and not just be dead weight. But maybe we should stop talking about this, it’s in the past now. Let’s look to the future of Tenko’s Justice Patrol!”

Disappointedly, Hajime shook his head. “We have got to change that god awful name...”

It hadn’t been her intention, but Hiyoko found herself wasting a good few hours of her day simply watching Fuyuhiko. Uh, not in a creepy way... though it probably looked creepy to anyone else. 

He’d been wandering around campus the whole day, but what had interested Hiyoko was what he was doing whilst wandering around. He had that camera from the other night with him, and he was just... taking pictures. 

They didn’t seem to be of anything special, he just pointed the camera at random things and took shots, but that might’ve actually made the whole event even more odd to Hiyoko. She didn’t picture him the type to take photos as a hobby anyway, but if she did she would’ve imagined him as the type to appreciate the suffering of people and animals more than random flowers, or the clouds in the sky. 

“What do you want Hiyoko?” Despite sounding passive, his words still flew with a bladed edge. Hiyoko had figured he’d seen her a while ago, or at least recognised that someone was following her; he probably had to be on his toes with things like that fairly often. 

“Pfft, nothing. Just wondering why such a big, strong boy was partaking in such a delicate hobby.” Both the dripping sarcasm and her mocking smirk noticeably riled Fuyuhiko, the sight only making Hiyoko’s grin more devilish. 

“Oh shut up! I ain’t even doin’ this for me anyway. ‘Sides, I’m pretty sure you already know exactly how ‘delicate’ photographers can be, don’t you?” Fuyuhiko fired back with his own smirk and biting remark, but, to Hiyoko, it didn’t seem like his heart was completely in it. That didn’t make her any less pissed. 

“Leave Mahiru alone. She’s leagues stronger than you are, asshole!”

“Funny, I don’t remember staying in my room for a month when my sister was killed. But what does that matter, Mahiru must be the same right, because she’s just soooo strong, isn’t she?”

Hiyoko’s jaws clamped together in anger, her fists clenching and unclenching rhythmically. “Well... at least Mahiru has people who are worried about her, I don’t remember anyone caring that you were depressed!”

Fuyuhiko winced. She’d struck a nerve, but not one she thought she would. He softened for sure, but she expected him to become angrier. “... yeah. You’re right. I didn’t... I don’t have anyone looking out for me like she does. I guess that’s my fault though, I’ve never been as personable as she was...”

That rush of gloom confused Hiyoko, she’d never seen Fuyuhiko buckle so easily. “U-uh, yeah, Mahiru is pretty great like that. She’s way cooler, and smarter, and just more talented than you’ll ever be.”

Fuyuhiko’s eyes locked with hers, but their stare off was emotionless, up until he broke the stare, closing his eyes as he sighed. “I hate to admit it, but we’re pretty similar. Apparently we’ve both got complexes about some chicks who like photography.”

Taken aback by the sudden declaration, Hiyoko stammered for a response. “What? That’s... what do you mean?”

“You’ve practically deified your best friend. You’d never compliment anyone else the way you do her. What’s it about her? Why’s she so special, huh?” Before she could respond, he sighed again. “Eh, it’s not like I can really say shit like that though... there are some people I thought and think pretty fuckin’ highly of. You probably won’t listen to me, but... don’t do anythin’ too rash, ‘ight?” She knew he couldn’t see them through her kimono sleeves, but she instinctively pulled her bruised right arm behind her back. “You might do somethin’ so dumb you’ll lose ‘em... I mean, lose her!” He tried to salvage his venom, but his final spit was lacklustre at best. 

He definitely knew it too, as he quickly began to walk away. Hiyoko didn’t follow him though. As much as she wanted to carry on hating his guts, what he’d said had hit her quite hard... it was similar to what Mikan had told her a few weeks ago. 

“I’m... am I going about this wrong? A-am I just... by trying so hard to help Mahiru, am I just pushing her away?” There was no way that was true though, right? It was called helping because that’s what it was, help. Her dedication to getting Mahiru back on her feet was only going to motivate Mahiru to get back out there again. It had to... it had to... what else could she even do..?

The trip to the arcade hadn’t been as fruitful as the team had hoped. While they had very briefly discussed what Tenko had found last night, they couldn’t really go into too much detail thanks to Tenko’s plus-one being pretty clingy. 

Hajime had considered telling the little witch girl to go away, but Tenko seemed pretty attached to her as well... and the fact that Tenko’s top was cropped at just the right height to show off the bottom of her abdominal muscles felt deliberate, reminding Hajime to not anger Tenko in any way, lest he want to be completing his exams in a hospital bed. 

On a more personal level, Hajime also hadn’t been able to settle the score with Makoto from last week, due to Makoto’s wallet mysteriously vanishing at some point after they arrived. So what ended up happening was that the two of them basically tailed Komaru around the whole day, watching her play various shooters and rhythm games, whilst Tenko was off who-knows-where with her own friend. 

Now that they were back on campus though, Hajime had split off from the other three, having to walk to the other side of the school grounds to get to the Reserve dorms. To his surprise though, a familial regal figure was waiting outside the building, presumably for him, her typical serene smile ready to greet him. 

“Good evening Hajime. I hope you had fun today.”

Hajime rubbed the back of his head, almost as if he were embarrassed. Sonia sounded so polite that it was as if his mother was asking him the question. Wait, no, maybe it was that she spoke to him very familiarly... well regardless of what specifically gave off that motherly air, the important part was that Sonia had it. “I did, yeah. Uhh, I’d hate to sound like I’m all business, but aren’t you, like, only supposed to talk to me when you need to guide me?”

Sonia raised her arms in front of her chest, her fists clenched. “Hajime! How disrespectful of you! We are friends, are we not? I find it quite insensitive that you would think I would only talk to you for the sake of my duties. Not lit, my dude.” How could she possibly say something that lame with a straight face?

“Oh, uh, I’m sorry? Sorry, if you wanted to hang out or something, I don’t think I can. It’s pretty late, and I’d like to get some studying done for my upcoming exams before I go guard the NWP tonight.”

Sonia’s hands dropped to her hips, though her face remained obstinately defiant. “Oh Hajime, I’m here to initiate our Social Link!”

“Umm... excuse me?”

“Our Social Link! I believe I have mentioned these before, yes? They are your bonds, and thus your strength. This rings bells, yes?”

It sounded familiar... “Oh... are you just trying to tell me that you want to be friends? Because you’re making it out to be a way more official process than it actually is.”

Sonia sighed, as if to say ‘you just don’t get it’. “Hajime, are you doing anything during Golden Week? If not, then I decree that we shall partake in a ‘hang-out sesh’ over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.”

It wasn’t as if he currently had any special plans for the holidays, and annoyingly Children’s Day fell on a Sunday this year anyway, but he wasn’t so sure he could commit to her offer, let alone three days with just Sonia. Nothing against her, it just... might be awkward. “I’m... not so sure about all three days, but, if you really want to, I suppose we can hang out... on some of those days...”

Clearly not quite reading his apprehension, Sonia gleefully clapped her hands together. “Magnificent! I simply cannot wait Hajime. I truly believe our relationship will be mutually beneficial. You shall deepen your power, and I am so very eager to learn more about you. My current friends are what ‘normies’ like you would call abnormal, so I am interested in being enlightened as to your way of living.”

Wait, so that’s what this was about? Sonia just wanted to learn a little more about normal people? As damaging to his already fragile ego as that was, of the bonds he’d forged recently, she seemed like she’d be one of the less... strenuous ones. If any gods were listening, please let that not have jinxed him!

Thou art I... And I am thou... Thou hast established a new bond... 

It brings to thee a new hope...

Thou hast been blessed by the Aeon Arcana...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fool- Tenko’s Justice Patrol: Rank 1
> 
> Chariot- Martial Artists: Rank 1
> 
> Temperance- Koichi Kizakura: Rank 1
> 
> Devil- Miu Iruma: Rank 1
> 
> Star- Makoto Naegi: Rank 2
> 
> Aeon- Sonia Nevermind: Rank 1


	25. Chapter 23

Monday, April 29th

Getting texts from Miu was a truly terrifying experience. There was of course the fear that she would send something absolutely unacceptable and someone would see it, but even if you managed to keep it all to yourself, there was still a good chance that whatever Miu sent would send you into a coma through the sheer explicitness of the message. 

So the fact that she had invited Hajime to join her and the rest of the tech team to play card games at lunch came as quite the surprise. He’d accepted, but considering that he was on quite the losing streak he almost wished he hadn’t. 

“Boo-yah, bitches! I mother-fuckin’ rule! How’s it feel bein’ bankrupt Yasuke? Don’t cry, I wanna see you grovel at my feet first!”

“Hmph... lucky break. That’s all. I’m still winning overall anyway.” The fact that Yasuke had joined in was more shocking than even the invitation Hajime had received to join in had been. And weirdly... he seemed to be having fun. Playing Tycoon was the only time Hajime had ever seen him smile without any abject malice. 

Another benefit of joining in was that Hajime had now finally actually met Chihiro. He had at first assumed that she wouldn’t be there because she was always out at lunch, but here she was, having fun with the rest of them. To be honest, Hajime felt a little out of place, he felt like he was intruding upon three people who were actually genuinely good friends and the fun they were having together. 

Another few rounds passed. Miu failed miserably to keep her position as Tycoon, but, to be fair, Yasuke and Chihiro had been dominating the top two spots for the entire time they’d been playing. Hajime though... he’d still been in last place overall for as long as he could remember. 

“You’ve gotten much better at card games recently Chihiro. With Miaya gone, I thought there wouldn’t be any challenge left for me when we played.” Miu likely would have responded to Yasuke’s indirect jab if she wasn’t desperately sifting through her hand, trying to at least salvage third place in this round, but Hajime was desperate for the spot. Just a few more wins over Miu, and he wouldn’t be in last place!

“Th-thank you. I wanted to get better, and a g-girl in my class is very good at card games, so I asked her to teach me. I’ve tried employing some of the bluffing techniques she t-taught me, but you’re a little t-too good at reading people Yasuke.”

Yasuke rolled his eyes, while Miu rolled around on the floor lamenting her defeat. “It’s not that. You just haven’t mastered your poker face yet.”

“Fuck, maybe you two should suck each other’s dicks outside, so I can get busy dominating Hajime again without you two cummin’ on each other’s egos.” 

“... what?” Hajime wasn’t shocked, at this point he’d have to be brain dead to not expect something like that to come out of Miu, but he was certainly confused when trying to process the ludicrous scenarios she threw out. Yasuke looked less than pleased too, and Chihiro looked downright mortified, her face pale in discomfort. 

Grunting, Yasuke stood from the floor where they were playing. “Have it your way, I guess. I need to go anyway, stuff to do.” If Hajime didn’t know better, it sounded as if Yasuke was actually a little sad about leaving... or maybe it was just the disappointment of working alongside Miu. “Chihiro, teach the bitch some techniques for later, I wouldn’t want our weekend games to be this lacking in competition.”

As he walked towards the door, Miu waved her fist at him, shouting more profanities. “Fuck you, I’m a master of techniques! If anything, Mosquito Bites over here should be begging me for tips!” She proudly laughed at herself, but she was the only one who found it funny, Yasuke didn’t even respond before he left the lab. “What’s up his ass?”

Hajime just rolled his eyes as Chihiro stood up, brushing down her skirt. “S-sorry to run, but I also have some things to do. I-if either of you would like me to teach you some tips for card games, I-I’ll be around later... or M-Miu, you could give me a call, if you’d prefer. And it w-was nice to meet you Hajime.” Giving the two left on the floor a quick bow, Chihiro hurried out of the lab as well, leaving Miu to sulk with Hajime. 

“Damn it... now I’m stuck with this fucker...”

“Sorry for being just that annoying.”

“You should be, fuck-wad!” Miu too jumped up from the floor, with all the grace of a drunk elephant. If it were anyone else, maybe Hajime would have stared, but Miu just wasn’t worth it, regardless of her... 

Anyway- Hajime was left to pack away all the cards, while Miu moped back over to her work bench, grabbing a couple of cardboard boxes from next to it and dropping them down on the table, proceeded to then rummage through them. “What are you doing?”

“What’s it look like? I’m gonna vent by inventing somethin’ real quick!”

“... you’re a really sore loser, aren’t you?”

Miu only responded with a grunt. Despite her poor attitude, it was quite impressive that she could sit down and invent something just like that. Seriously, she wasn’t just making something, she was straight up inventing something new as a stress reliever. Hajime would’ve seen that as a way more stressful activity. “You know, it’s pretty cool that you can do that. Just... invent.”

Miu glanced up for a moment, and Hajime could’ve sworn he caught a look of surprise on her... red face? “H-huh? Uhhh, yeah, duh, I’m the coolest fuckin’ person around, and don’t you forget it! But I’m glad that you appreciate my greatness.”

“Hey, while I’m here... do you want me to test out anything for you?” He hoped he wouldn’t regret asking, especially since Miu hadn’t been in the best of moods, but at the very least it might make her fish around for some intel for him. And right now she was his only real source for inside info. 

Still rummaging around in her boxes, Miu didn’t even look at him to answer. “I dunno, probably, but I can’t think of anythin’ I’d want you to. Then again...” Miu pulled what looked to be a futuristic gun out of one of the boxes, and aimed it at Hajime. 

“Hey! Don’t point that at me!” Hajime wasn’t sure what to do, so one arm instinctively moved to shield his face, even if there was nothing that he could really do in the face of a gun. 

But Miu didn’t seem to think that it was all that big a deal since she began nasally laughing as usual. “Oh, relax, it ain’t dangerous. It’s just one’a my inventions. I forgot what I called it, but all it’s gonna do is give you a stiffy for a few hours. Well, it isn’t gonna give you a hard-on, ‘cause it only works on girls, but I could probably make something that’ll open up a new door for you downstairs!” That obnoxious laugh pervaded the room once again. 

“I’d really rather you didn’t do that... and what was the point in making something that just... doesn’t work?”

Miu tutted. “Oh, sweet, innocent Hajime, you’ve never even touched a woman, have ya? You’d never get it.” This wasn’t something he was willing to argue about with her. 

“Great, well, if I’m not needed, then I guess I’ll just go then.”

Unexpectedly, that drew a reaction from Miu. “Huh? W-wait, don’t go! Uhh... just... hang around until the end of lunch, all right?” She looked visibly distressed; she was hunched over slightly, her face a frightful white. 

Why was she reacting like that? Was it something he’d said? “I... guess I can do that...”

“You know what, I’ve got a little bit of info for you that you might like, okay? Just like I promised, so don’t go!”

Now that was what he wanted to hear. “Come on, I already said I’d stay. So... what did you find out?”

“Eh, well, now that I’m thinking about it, it isn’t really all that much. But... apparently there’s someone else tied to this project in school. A third year in the Main Course. I don’t know anything more specific than that, Chihiro was real tight lipped about it, but apparently they’ve been testing out the Programme for a little over half a year. H-how’s that? Was that good shit or what?”

Hmm... it wasn’t really the type of information he’d been looking for, but it might end up being useful, if only he or his teammates had a way in with the third years of the Main Course... hang on! Sonia! While he might have to wait till the end of the week, he could use Sonia as a good way to get information about this third year student. But a thought did cross his mind... what if they’re targeted next? Few of the victims were connected to the NWP directly, or at all, but if someone like Miaya became a target, couldn’t anyone? “Yes, actually. Thanks Miu. That might be just what I needed to hear.”

There was a moment of elation on her face, quickly followed by her gratuitous arrogance. “Of fuckin’ course it was what you needed! I can always give the boys just what they want. I’ll try cooking up some more stuff for ya though, assuming you wanna know more. But next time, I won’t hand out the intel for free.”

She might be a pain, but Hajime admittedly found her to be useful in some ways. He wasn’t so sure if he should be lamenting it or not, but it seemed like he might be getting closer to Miu... somehow. 

‘You feel like your bond with Miu has grown deeper...’

The Miu Iruma Social Link has reached Rank 2.

The lump in Tenko’s throat refused to budge as she watched Angie painting in the gym again. 

She looked so gleeful, like nothing had happened, but every time she moved a little too fast, Tenko could see the wince on her face, no matter how quickly it faded. 

“H-hey Angie... h-how are you?”

Angie placed down her brush, beaming the same way she always did. “I am doing rather well Tenko, but you do not look so well. Do you need to head to the infirmary?”

Tenko shook her head. No, this was something she had to do, no matter what, she had to tell Angie... “I... I’m fine, but... you see I... I’m so sorry Angie!” Tenko dropped to her knees, her forehead resting against the ground. She had a feeling some of the other students in the gym were staring, but that didn’t matter. “I’m so sorry I hurt you! I-I didn’t mean to, I just... I just... my emotions got the better of me. I shouldn’t have challenged you in the first place... I’m sorry...”

The silence that succeeded her apology was crushing, and Tenko didn’t have the strength to look up. But then... Angie began to laugh. “Oh Tenko, it’s okay. Atua has already forgiven you, and so I shall forgive you as well.”

Tenko shot up from the floor, pity clouding her eyes. “What? No... no, Angie, please... don’t be like this... I want you to be mad, you have a right to be. What I did was unacceptable, a-a disgrace to aikido, I can never-“

“But it was an accident, right? Tenko, Atua sees all, and he has already told me all about your struggle. I know you didn’t really mean it, but you struggle to control yourself. I understand.”

“What? You can’t... no one is that forgiving... Angie, I broke some of your ribs, didn’t I? There was a chance that my carelessness could have caused some serious, long term damage to you! I could have killed you! Aren’t you upset? At the very least let me try and make it up to you, let me help you with something, please.”

Picking her brush up again, Angie pressed the wooden handle against her lips. “I’m not upset Tenko, but if you wish to help me, then let us go to the art room now, I would like to add some new touches to my painting of you from before.” Without waiting for a response, Angie grabbed Tenko’s wrist, lightly tugging on her. Obviously Angie wasn’t strong enough to move Tenko normally, but with her damaged body she had no chance. 

Of course, Tenko intended to follow. She had to. She’d promised herself she’d make it up to Angie, and if this is what it takes, then that’s okay. “Okay Angie. Lead the way, I’ll even carry your stuff here back for you.”

Angie clasped her hands by the side of her head, and promptly spun on her heel, skipping a few steps, then, deciding that that hurt too much, began to walk out of the gym. “Wonderful Tenko! Let us go at once!”

Chasing Angie down the corridor was somewhat difficult with an easel and canvas in her arms, but Tenko didn’t struggle too much. But while on the walk to the third floor, her eyes locked with a girl she hadn’t seen before. She was short, wore a sleepy expression, and possessed equally short pale hair. In that way, she was almost like Himiko. But bodily, there were no similarities, other than being short. This girl was so much... uh, healthier? Yeah... that was what Tenko was thinking. 

Her looks weren’t what alerted Tenko though, no, instead it was the way the stranger tilted her head at her, her eyes squinting, as if examining Tenko’s body and face. 

Unfortunately, Tenko couldn’t dawdle, she needed to keep up with Angie, but as she walked past the girl, she could have sworn she heard something that confused her above everything else:

“... was that Tenko?”


	26. Chapter 24

Tuesday, April 30th

Somehow, Hajime’s second visit to the ‘interrogation room’ was even more nerve racking than his first. A large part of that was of course that he didn’t really know why he was there this time. That and the fact that it was just him and Kyoko. Without Shuichi, the atmosphere was a lot more... threatening. 

Kyoko’s calm demeanour and emotionless face only worsened his anxieties, Hajime couldn’t even begin to guess what this was about. “Mr. Hajime Hinata. I understand you’ve been taking a few trips to the nurses office recently, could you tell me why?”

Oh no... how should he respond? Lying to Kyoko seemed like it would end poorly, but telling her the truth, what she probably wanted to hear... that would be betraying Makoto’s wishes, even if Hajime himself didn’t entirely agree with him. “Oh, yeah... well, I’ve started to work out a little more, I’ve been going to the school gym now and again, and doing some workouts with some of the Ultimates there-“

“With Tenko Chabashira, correct? You’ve been studying under her, so to speak, alongside Sakura Ogami, correct?” How... how did she know that?

“Y-yes... that’s right...”

Kyoko softly smiled, but it wasn’t at all comforting. “I see. I know it to be true, and yet I somehow find it incredibly unlikely. Ms. Chabashira has quite the reputation, even amongst the Reserve Course. I struggle to believe that a man such as yourself would be capable of befriending her under normal circumstances, or that you would even desire to approach her in the first place. So how did this friendship come to be?”

He had to think on his feet, Kyoko was bright, and honestly seemed to already have the answers she was looking for; she just wanted to hear it from him. “Friends? I don’t know if I’d go that far...”

“Really? Ms. Ogami seemed to believe otherwise. As did the nurse who has been treating you two. But I suppose I should be more inclined to believe you than two spectators to your relationship.”

Hajime restrained a gulp. “Y-yeah... was there a-anything else?” He felt like he was being toyed with by Kyoko. 

Kyoko was silent for a moment, looking Hajime over, as if analysing him. “Yes, there was one other thing. According to my partner, Ms. Chabashira went missing for a few days recently. And it was just after that that the two of you seemed to grow closer. And if the testimony given to me by Ms. Tsumiki is accurate, you started to go by the nurses office before then, expressing the same pain that you blamed on your workout sessions with Ms. Chabashira.”

Damn it! He’d messed up... what was going to happen to him? No, he had to find a way out... “Oh, right, well, I sought out help from Tenko because of that actually. See, I tried doing some exercise in my dorm room, but I only ended up hurting myself. I assumed an Ultimate would be able to help me out...”

The following silence was awful, oppressive. Hajime knew that at any moment Kyoko could call him on his bull crap. But she didn’t. “Thank you Mr. Hinata. You may leave now.”

Her command couldn’t have come sooner. With a polite bow, Hajime stood from the table they had been seated at, and calmly left the room... before letting out a deep sigh as soon as the door closed behind him, his back sinking down the wall. Was she really onto him? It was hard to say for certain, but she definitely knew more than he wanted her to...

“Natsumi Kuzuryu; Miaya Gekkogahara; Tenko Chabashira... even Ms. Sato. They all happen to have ties with him. No, I’m getting ahead of myself, Tenko doesn’t fit the pattern. For now, I’ll have to assume Shuichi’s hunch was wrong. Even if she does have connections to this boy, they only seemed to interact after her disappearance. If he had done something to her, she wouldn’t be training him... and I don’t suspect blackmail is involved... after my questioning with Yasuke yesterday, I’d thought I’d hit on something, but maybe not. Perhaps I should ask Tenko herself about their relationship...”

Of all the things to walk in on at the gymnasium, Hajime hadn’t suspected this to be one of them...

“Ah, Tenko, could you please hold still? It would be very helpful if you kept your left leg still please.” Hajime had fully intended to train with Tenko today, but instead he found her posed in the middle of the room, with a small girl painting her. 

“Hajime? Uh, sorry, I’m a bit busy today if you wanted to practise. Sakura should be coming by soon though, if you’d rather-“

“Oh, is he a friend of yours Tenko?” The painter spun slowly on her heel, her curious gaze scanning Hajime. “Oh, I have had a brilliant idea for a dynamic piece! Do not worry stranger, you shall be able to get a bit physical with Tenko today after all.”

Taken aback by the phrasing, Hajime wasn’t so sure what that meant or how to react to it. And considering the fact that Tenko lost her balance as the painter said it, he assumed Tenko felt the same. “I’m sorry? Uh, if I’m interrupting, it’s okay, don’t stop for me. I’ll just come back later...”

But the artist was insistent. “No no, it’s fine! We shall finish my current piece later, Atua as inspired a new idea within me, and I would like to do it now. You’ll do this for me, right Tenko?”

“Atua? Who’s-?” Hajime was abruptly cut off by Tenko, who charged up to him, pushing him out towards the locker rooms. 

“Just go with it Hajime. It’s okay. This’ll benefit all of us. Angie likes to paint motion sometimes, so we’ll be able to train together, and she can carry on painting. It’s a win-win.”

“Oh... okay then?” Hajime dropped his voice to a whisper, leaning a tad closer to Tenko, but not quite so close that she’d knock his block off. “By the way, there’s something I need to talk to you about... I think one of the detectives is onto us...”

“No... really? Well, I’ve got something I need to talk to you about as well... so hurry up and go get changed into your PE kit.”

After getting changed, Angie wasted no time in instructing Hajime and Tenko on how she wanted them to move. Thankfully most of the time they just had to slowly swing their legs or arms towards each other, so it wasn’t too difficult for Hajime to keep up with. On the downside though, it meant that he spent a lot of time very close to Tenko, which made him fear for his safety. However, there was a silver-lining to that- it gave them free range to subtly talk to each other. 

“I wouldn’t be surprised if a girl called Kyoko Kirigiri comes to talk to you in the next few days. Today she questioned me about how we became friends...” There was a call from Angie to change positions. 

“What did you tell her? I’ll need to keep the story consistent, otherwise we’ll be busted for sure...”

“I told her I came to you because I wanted help with exercising. That’s about it.” Another call to change, with Tenko’s fist uncomfortably close to his head. 

“Okay, nice and simple... I can work with that. What I wanted to tell you was-“ Angie called out again, Tenko now grasping one of Hajime’s wrists. He prayed she wouldn’t squeeze any tighter... “Yesterday, there was this girl who recognised me in the hall. I have no idea why or how she knows me, but she did...”

“Uh... that’s odd... do you know what class she’s in?”

“No, so at least-“ Yet another change, but this time was significantly scarier. Grabbing Hajime’s right arm from behind him, Tenko flipped him up into her back, which was a little awkward considering the height difference. “At least I know she’s not in my class. I was going to ask Makoto later, his answer should solve that problem, but I still don’t know why or how she’d know me...”

It was certainly odd, but without knowing who, Hajime wouldn’t be able to come close to figuring out the why. And really, the truth of the whole thing might not be anything special, maybe this girl just heard about Tenko somewhere. Maybe she’s a fan or something? Who knows...

Thankfully Angie didn’t then request that Tenko throw Hajime or anything like that, and their posing time was done. Angie smiled over at the two as she began removing her piece from her easel. “Congratulations you two! You have helped bring life to a piece I’m sure we can all enjoy. Same time tomorrow to finish?”

“H-huh, we aren’t finish-“ Tenko quickly cut Hajime off with a light jab at his ribs. 

“Sure thing Angie. We can definitely do that. You can head off now, we’ll take your stuff back to the art room.”

“Oh, how kind of you Tenko! In that case, I shall head off for today. May Atua grant you many blessings.” Angie hummed to herself as she walked out of the gym, Tenko coyly waving her off. 

“Thanks Tenko. Don’t I get a say in this?” He wasn’t angry necessarily, but he wasn’t all too pleased about Tenko stinging him along without asking him first. 

“Sorry, but I’m trying to make amends with her. Just go along with it, alright? I... I hurt her, badly, a few weeks ago, and so I’ve decided to help her out with her art. Besides, I thought up a pretty great plan just now. If we take this stuff up, just like I did yesterday, maybe we’ll bump into the girl I mentioned, it’s about the same time now that it was yesterday. Not a bad plan, huh?”

Hajime had to admit that it wasn’t the worst plan he’d ever heard, but he doubted it would pan out. Couldn’t hurt to try though. 

But as it turned out, they had no such luck. When they arrived at the art room, they hadn’t crossed paths with anyone, let alone the girl Tenko met yesterday. Instead Hajime had been able to bear witness to one of Tenko’s feats of strength: easily carrying both the easel and canvas up a couple flights of stairs. 

“Alright, you’re done Hajime. Just drop the paints and brushes by the door, I can take it from here.”

“Are you sure? You don’t want my help putting any of it away?”

Tenko shook her head, a confident smile gracing her face. “Nah, I’ll be fine. Just you watch.”

Hajime couldn’t help but feel that it was Tenko’s pride that prevented her from asking him for help. In the same way that it was probably her pride that made her so dedicated to helping out this Angie girl. It was admirable, in its own way. Tenko was prideful, but not arrogantly so. She had confidence in herself, but knew her limits- even if she was keen to push them. 

“Uh, this might sound a little out of the blue... and to be honest, a bit embarrassing as well, but... I’m glad you’re a part of the team Tenko.”

Even though he’d only known her for around a week, her confidant smirks had become a source of strength for Hajime, and he was sure the same was true for Makoto. Tenko was certainly a handful, but Hajime couldn’t help but find her endearing. 

“H-huh? Why are you...? You aren’t about to confess to me or something, are you? Because my heart has already been taken.”

Hajime sighed, giving Tenko a brief wave of his hand. “No, it’s nothing like that. I guess... I guess you’re just what I always thought an Ultimate would be like. Someone who’s cool, and talented, and I guess slightly eccentric. Oh, but in a good way though! I don’t mean to say you’re crazy, heh-heh.”

Unexpectedly, Tenko’s head dropped, a sad smile emerging where her love confident one resided, her bangs casting a dreary shadow over her half-lidded eyes. “I appreciate it Hajime... but I don’t deserve praise like that. I’m a bit of a disaster... and I’m a pretty terrible person...”

Hajime was at a loss for words. It felt like Tenko had opened up to him, but considering what she’d said, he kind of wished she hadn’t. 

The second oppressive silence he’d experienced that day suddenly fell over them, but Hajime didn’t think he could wiggle out of this one. He was simply left to reciprocate Tenko’s sad stare, as he wished he had the guts to ask Tenko why she held such an awfully low opinion of herself. At the very least, if she was opening up now, maybe she would tell him herself one day. 

‘You feel like your bond with Tenko has grown deeper...’

The Martial Artists Social Link has reached Rank 2.


	27. Chapter 25

Wednesday, May 1st

Chihiro appeared both elated and confused when Hajime asked her to teach him those bluffing tactics. Hajime thought that, after yesterday’s interrogation, learning how to bluff, and the development of a poker face, might be handy, especially considering that he didn’t intend to stop his involvement with the NWP. 

“Y-you want me to teach you...? I’m sorry Hajime, I know I o-offered, but... it’s just that I don’t think I’d be able to do that good a job of it... I-I’m sorry...” It looked as if Chihiro was about to burst into tears, and that was definitely not something Hajime wanted to see, nor did he want to be accountable for making her cry in the first place. 

“If you can’t teach me, that’s okay, I promise! Don’t cry... uhh...”

“N-no, don’t worry... I wasn’t going to...” Oh, she wasn’t? Chihiro just has that sort of demeanour then? The tech lab was already home to such drastically different personalities in Miu and Yasuke, maybe someone a little more meek like Chihiro was a necessity, for balances sake. “I-if you’d like, we can go see the girl I asked to teach me. She should be in my homeroom class right now.”

“Are you sure? I won’t be intruding on her, will I?” Chihiro hesitated visibly, her eyes darting to the side. That didn’t seem like a good sign. 

“Umm... m-maybe... if she’s in a good mood, I’m sure she’d be happy to teach y-you something...” ‘If’ huh? Sounds like a gamble, but what did Hajime really have to lose?

When Hajime and Chihiro arrived at the her classroom, Hajime was greeted with quite the sight. And for once, it was the looks of the people in the room rather than what they were doing that was so bizarre. 

All of the tables and chairs had been moved to the sides of the room, all except one table and two chairs, all three having been set up in the middle of the room. Atop the table sat a chess board, and sitting at the same table were a veritable yin and yang of a duo. 

On one side, a girl dressed in what could only be some of the most expensive gothic lolita clothing Hajime had ever seen. In fact, he’d never seen a person wearing such eccentric clothing, let alone an outfit that antiquated. Her hair too, arranged into two tidy drills that hovered just barely above the floor while she sat. She was the very image of serenity while sat there, calmly sipping some kind of tea from a fine china cup, a peaceful expression on her pale face. 

Opposing her was nothing short of her antithesis, from his clothing to mannerisms at the moment Hajime had walked in on. He was dressed in the standard uniform for the Main Course, prom and proper, but it wasn’t until Hajime’s eyes glanced over the bright red arm band he also wore that Hajime recognised the boy. He was the Student Council President, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, if he wasn’t mistaken, but the usual commanding and capable aura he usually possessed when delivering speeches was all but absent from him here. Kiyotaka was sweating profusely, his large eyebrows furrowed while he desperately scanned the chess board.

There was one other person present, a large boy, sporting a pompadour. He stood by Kiyotaka’s side, smirking, almost teasingly, at the President’s distress. He was the first to notice Hajime and Chihiro, and waved the two of them over. 

Chihiro lightly tugged on Hajime’s shirt before they headed over, whispering quickly to him. “Be quiet Hajime, we can’t interrupt while she’s playing. But I think she’ll be done soon...”

Sure enough, in a matter of minutes, the lolita calmly declared her victory with a gentle “Checkmate.” Kiyotaka released a defeated sigh, and promptly shot up from his seat, bowing to his opponent. 

“I can’t believe it, but you’ve bested me again Celeste.” He gave Celeste a quick salute before making another proclamation. “I shall return with your winnings as fast as I can!” With a determined stride, Kiyotaka quickly walked out of the classroom, his friend jogging after him, though he flashed a smile at Chihiro before he left the room. 

With just the three of them left, Celeste looked at the other two for the first time, silently raising an eyebrow at them, which prompted Chihiro into talking. “Ah, hello Celeste. I-I hope this i-isn’t a bother, b-but I was hoping that you could teach my friend here s-some of the tricks you taught me a little while ago...”

Chihiro seemed really on edge, even more nervous than whenever she was talking to Hajime, but he could understand why. Celeste hadn’t even spoken to them, yet her presence was overwhelming. Quite the feat for a girl who looked rather petite. “Your friend would like to learn?” Hajime hadn’t noticed it in the one word he’d heard her say prior, but did Celeste have a French accent? That wasn’t what he expected to hear. “I am not a particularly talented teacher, so I think you would find it more effective to teach him yourself. I am quite tired anyhow after my competition with Taka.”

Celeste’s smile was sweet, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Ah, that’s why Chihiro came to her, she’s a natural born lier, isn’t she. Regardless, that smile felt equally as threatening as it did false, so neither Hajime or Chihiro would have been interested in pushing it. “O-oh, okay... I-I’m sorry to bother you C-Celeste...”

Celeste held up a delicate hand, silencing Chihiro. “No no, it is fine. I am simply not interested today. However, I would be willing to tutor your friend if he were to speak for himself.”

Nervously, Hajime stepped forward. He lightly tugged at his collar, for some reason he felt rather distraught under Celeste’s critical gaze, even more so than Kyoko’s. And the way the pointed ornament on one of her fingers menacingly gleamed only worsened his anxiety. This was Makoto’s class, right? Considering the story behind his weapon of choice, Hajime really shouldn’t have been surprised about how scary the students in this class were. “M-my name is Hajime Hinata, I’m a third year from the Reserve Course. I would like you to teach me how to, uh... bluff? Yes, and how to work on my poker face.”

Celeste airily chuckled. Somehow, that was more frightening than if she’d started to maniacally laugh. “Such a simple request. My name is Celestia Ludenburg, but I would prefer for you to refer to me as Celeste. As I already stated, I shall not teach you today, but, I shall considering giving you some lessons if you stop by tomorrow. And do make it early, my attention is in very high demand.”

“Thank you Celeste. I’m glad to hear that. I-I’ll come by before classes start tomorrow. Thank you again!” Giving Celeste a polite bow only felt appropriate, anything less felt like it would have cast him in an unfavourable light. 

“Very well. Now, if you two could please leave me be. My prize should be arriving soon, and I would like to enjoy it in private.”

Of all the things to spend a lunch period doing, Makoto would have never guessed he would ever be spending one learning how to use a knife more effectively. 

After a few experiences with Taka and his kendo instruction, Makoto had come to realise that just because swords and knives both had sharp blades that did not mean you could use them in the same way. And as such, he’d asked Mukuro to teach him how to wield the knife she gave him. She’d seemed all too eager to help him out, though that was to be expected of the Ultimate Soldier. 

Also to be expected was the intensity of the training, which was something Makoto had overlooked in his head when he asked. 

“You’re close Makoto. But do it more like this.” As far as Makoto was concerned, Mukuro was in a league that someone like him could never hope to join. She perfectly switched through the various postures she’d told him about; closed and crouched for defense, tall and proud when attacking; not to mention her perfect pivots, her legs twirling as if she were in a ballet, and the clean stabbing motions she made into the air- all things Makoto had tried and failed to emulate, at least with fluidity of Mukuro’s degree, he could obviously stab the air, he wasn’t that pathetic. 

He knew she was just trying to be nice when she told him he was close, he knew he wasn’t. Right now, all he was was a sweaty mess with sore arms and legs. “M-M-Mukuro...? I’m g-going to stop for today... I’m so tired...” Before he could even breathe again, Mukuro was at his side, a water bottle in her hand. 

The cap was off, and she was pressing the bottle wordlessly to his lips. Panting, Makoto took the bottle, but while he was drinking he became suddenly self conscious. He could feel Mukuro’s eyes on him. She must’ve been judging him for how big a mess up he was. He felt like such a loser...

“... Makoto, would you like me to teach you some martial arts instead? Many knife-based fighting styles utilise some martial artistry, so maybe you would perform better if you had some knowledge in those areas.” The kindly smile she gave Makoto wasn’t one she wore very often, but it was the kind that just made Makoto want to smile as well. 

“I-I... I appreciate... the thought... but I don’t want to inconvenience you any more than I already have. So-“ Mukuro’s hand firmly gripped his shoulder, not aggressively, but there was a lot more force than strictly necessary. 

“That’s okay. I’d be happy to teach you. Anything for-“ Mukuro cut herself off, letting go of him and turning away. 

It was very nice of her to humour him, he was well aware he was pretty hopeless with physical activity, but he still felt bad by making her join him for it. “If you’re up for it, than thank you Mukuro. I know I’m not very good, so thanks for bearing with me.”

Mukuro silently nodded her head, still not looking back at him, one of her hands raised to her cheeks. What was she doing? Oh well, it was none of his business. 

Before long though, Makoto was back into practise, with Mukuro taking a bit more of a hands-on approach, physically moving his arms and legs into the correct positions if he was slightly off. It was going to be tough, but this was training worth doing, especially since Tenko was training Hajime. He didn’t want to fall behind. 

In an attempt to fulfil the promise he technically hadn’t made himself but he’d been roped into yesterday, Hajime had intended to go down to the gym after school, but he’d found Angie standing outside, apparently waiting for him. She’d said that Tenko wouldn’t be able to make it after all, and although Hajime was initially annoyed by that, he soon figured that it must have been because she was being questioned by Kyoko. Tenko was a lot of things, but she seemed like the type to stay faithful to commitments. 

So that’s how Hajime had instead found himself in the art room, slowly suffocating on all the paint fumes filling the air. Angie seemed to be the one solely responsible for the disastrous atmospheric state of the room, but it didn’t seem to bother her. Then again, she did look like her head was always in the clouds...

“Angie, can I actually do anything without Tenko, you were painting the both of us, right? I mean, why’d you even bring me up here?” Angie laughed brightly in response to his question, but didn’t give an answer behind that. Head in the clouds indeed...

“Hmm... I am lacking in divine inspiration today... I cannot seem to summon my muse like usual. Atua’s hotline must be full of calls today.” 

“Uh, what?”

The smile that Angie directed towards Hajime was equal parts eerie and unsettling. “Atua. He is the god of my island. He is the one who inspires all of my art, and gives me advice when I am lost. Atua is a saviour.” Under any other circumstances, Hajime would have found that to be at least mildly concerning, but all that concern was instead directed to Angie as she swayed from side to side, an expression of agonising pain suddenly crossing her face. 

“Whoa, hey, Angie, are you okay?” He rushed to her side to offer support, but she didn’t take it. He was beginning to understand how Tenko and her were friends- they were both extraordinarily stubborn and set in their beliefs.

“I am okay. In one of my moments of divine inspiration, I accidentally hurt myself. It is of no real importance, Atua is aiding me in my recovery even as we speak.” Hajime was pretty sure that was a lie. Tenko had told him that she’d hurt Angie, hadn’t she? So was Angie trying to protect Tenko or something? Huh, that was... unexpectedly sweet of her, even if it was pointless. 

“O-okay then. But if you’re hurt, should you really be putting your body under any strain at all? Shouldn’t you be resting?”

“That would not do! Atua offers me His aid because I act as His voice. If I stopped working, or creating art, Atua would simply stop helping me.”

Pretty fickle god then... “Then can I at least offer to help you out? If you want me here for your art, let me do more than just stand around. I could even help you create some stuff. I’m no artist, but if you’d guide me, I’m sure we could figure something out.”

If Angie really was as similar to Tenko as he feared, there was a good chance that her pride would prevent her from accepting his aid. Luckily, she wasn’t quite that prideful, and Angie lightly clapped her hands together with a smile. “If you are so eager to help myself and Atua, I shall not push you away Hajime. You shall be my muse, my assistant, and become a devout follower of Atua too! If you’d please, can you grab my artists coat from the storeroom? It is the yellow one.”

Hajime wasn’t so sure about everything Angie had said, but he wholeheartedly wanted to help her out. Though he wondered if he was being selfish about it... if he only wanted to help her because she was hurt, and thus feel like he was actually making a difference for someone in the real world, outside of the NWP... regardless, he’d made a promise to help her before, and had just made a new one as well, so he’d take a page out of Tenko’s book on this one. So long as he doesn’t die from all the exposure to these paint fumes...

Thou art I... And I am thou... Thou hast established a new bond...

It brings to thee a new hope...

Thou hast been blessed by the Hierophant Arcana...


	28. Chapter 26

Thursday, May 2nd

Hajime felt his jaw clench in a way he imagined must have been nearly identical to how Kiyotaka’s did yesterday as he left yet another card game utterly defeated. “Celeste...? I don’t mean to question your methods, but how is this helping? If anything, I think I’m getting worse at hiding my emotions.” While the atmosphere in the Rec Room felt appropriate for these games, it didn’t mean that Hajime could adjust to that atmosphere. 

Celeste’s simple smile after his comment felt vaguely similar, in Hajime’s mind, to the sort a calmly deranged murderer in a cheesy horror film would posses. Needless to say Celeste still scared him witless. “It is not something you will ever be good at, as I believe that you are quite an emotional person. Besides, bluffing is not something I can teach you, you need to figure it out for yourself. And what better way to learn than through practical application.”

Hajime understood what her intention was, it did make sense, but considering the fact that the only thing he could recognise as happening was his total defeat at the hands of his ‘mentor’... again and again and again... he wasn’t sure this was working for him. Then again, contesting her seemed like a bad idea... “So... how did you teach Chihiro? She’s much better at this than I am...”

“That is likely because Chihiro is a better lier than you.” Hajime had to raise an eyebrow at that. Really? Chihiro? She seemed so innocent, lying wasn’t a skill he would have associated with her at all. “Even still, Chihiro is a novice, as soon as you identify her tells you can see her lies from a mile away.”

“Tells? What are those?”

A slight frown tugged at Celeste’s lips, and Hajime instantly regretted asking. “Are you really so simple? In a way you’d understand, a tell is a quirk that manifests whenever a person is lying. It varies from person to person, but there are certainly some common types. You share one with Taka, for instance. Both of you a habit of furrowing your brows when under stress, but more importantly is that your right eyebrow twitches.”

“Y-you noticed that?” He couldn’t believe Celeste could pick up on something so apparently personal in the short while they’d been playing... then again, maybe her talent played a part in that analysis. He hadn’t actually asked what Ultimate she was yet. 

“Of course I noticed. It is a very obvious tell. Even the most inexperienced of people can identify that one. Active avoidance of eye context is perhaps the only tell more obvious.” With Celeste saying that, Hajime touched on an idea. It was very basic, but might serve him well; why not just try to actively avoid doing these common tells? Easier said than done, he was sure, but if he tried to work on those, well, it was a start, right? And then Celeste brought to his attention another thing to consider. “You ought to change your strategy depending on the game too. Game theory is an interesting study, if you are interested.”

Game theory? That might be useful, but could game theory apply to interrogations? “Game theory? How could that help me?”

The smile Celeste gave him this time seemed uncharacteristically genuine, it must’ve been because she enjoyed speaking on the topic. “Game theory is a wide and diverse topic, it involves many tricks one would likely not expect to apply to the world of games. Most of these are physiological tricks. For example, in chess or shogi, one possible strategy is to simply mimic the opponent in every move they make. In this way, you do not have to think about your own moves, and can instead focus on how to take advantage of your opponent, who, in many cases, will be under significant pressure if you successfully employ this strategy. Not only do they have to account for their own movements, but also how you may be able to counter them. I would not personally advise this strategy, but it may be a useful starting point. Since you should be spending most of the game thinking, you shouldn’t be making many facial expressions, though do be wary of staring at certain pieces for too long, or smiling, that will give away that you have found a potential weakness. I would advise only making a weakness known whilst punishing said weakness, when taking pieces in chess, for example. There are of course larger scale tactics and elements within game theory. I’m sure you’ve heard of the Prisoners Dilemma. That is something that can be applied to team games as well.”

Sitting in stunned silence, Hajime couldn’t help but be impressed with Celeste’s fount of knowledge. She was certainly scary, but she was highly knowledgable about techniques that Hajime wanted to learn. Registration would begin soon though, so those lessons would have to resume another time. “Thank you Celeste. I look forward to... continuing to learn under you.” With his shaky goodbye, Hajime took his leave of the Rec Room. 

“...Mikan?”

As Chiaki opened the door to the nurses office, the girl she’d called out to let out a terrified shriek, dropping the rolls of bandages she was carrying, as her arms instead shielded her head. “AHHHH! Wh-wh-what did I do?!”

Chiaki tilted her head, her lips parting slightly, as confusion clouded her face. “Oh... I’m sorry Mikan. I didn’t mean to scare you... Let me help you pick those up.”

With Mikan still trembling, Chiaki ended up being the only one to actually pick up any of the bandages, but she didn’t really mind. In any case, it gave Mikan some time to recover before Chiaki handed the rolls back to her. “I-I’m sorry Chiaki! Y-you just surprised me is all! Umm... uhhh...” Mikan mumbled to herself as she began to stack the bandages into one of the several cabinets in the office. “S-so, why did you c-come down here Chiaki? You d-don’t look hurt...”

“Oh, yeah. Have you seen Hiyoko? She wasn’t in class, and registration is about to start.” Chiaki folded her arms, sadly glancing down at the floor. “She’s only started missing morning register after I tried to play a game with her...”

Mikan thankfully didn’t share Chiaki’s nervous disposition on this topic, and lightly waved it off. “T-try not to worry about her Chiaki. She’s t-taking some time off is all. The s-stress of the p-past few weeks has really gotten to her. So, p-please don’t worry.”

Chiaki adopted a cheerful smile after hearing that as she breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness, I thought Croque might have scared her. He can be too cranky sometimes.” 

“Croak? Huh...? D-did you show Hiyoko your p-pet frog or s-something?”

Chiaki pouted up at Mikan, huffing quietly, as if to tell Mikan that she was asking a ridiculous question. “No, Croque is villager in the Animal Crossing town I showed Hiyoko. He’s rude sometimes, and he looks a little scary. He has a goatee and a little moustache, very scary... I think.” Chiaki held up two fingers just below her nose, loosely mimicking the facial hair, which garnered a soft chuckle from Mikan. 

“Oh, of c-course. My mistake. I-I’m sorry that I c-can’t really help you with H-Hiyoko though, I-I’m even struggling to help her p-personally... the past f-few weeks have been quite t-tough for everyone, but Hiyoko...”

Both of them stood in silence, the momentary jovial mood quickly abandoning them. “Thank you anyway Mikan. I’d best get back to class. I hope you have a nice day...” Quietly shuffling out of the office, Chiaki gently and slowly closed the door, giving Mikan a small wave as she did. 

But once the door was closed, Chiaki sighed, her small hands gripping the sides of her hood. “It’s going to be okay... it’s all going to be okay... I think...”

Hajime’s ‘lesson’ with Celeste had ended up cutting it even closer to his first registration than he’d thought, which was why he had taken to speed walking down from the Rec Room as fast as he could in order to get to the Reserve Course on time. 

Fortunately, he wasn’t running, because just at the bottom of the stair case leading to the first floor, he nearly collided with a girl that had just come out of the nurses office. Hmm... this seemed oddly familiar, yet kinda reversed... oh yeah, this was how he first met Makoto, wasn’t it? Makoto was running to do something and had collided with him when he was walking down the stairs. 

Hajime didn’t really have time to get caught up in his reminiscing though, like Makoto had been, he had somewhere he needed to be, and quickly too. Offering a quick apology to the small girl he nearly bowled over, he took off down the corridor before he could even hear her finish her response. 

Weirdly enough though... even as he bolted to the entrance hall for the Main Course (and his exit to the Reserve Department), he could feel a pair of curious eyes staring into his back. 

“Ugh, that interrogation was the worst! I was all fidgety, and sweaty, and that detective girl is way more intense than the guy in my class!”

“Heh-heh, yeah... Kyoko can be like that. It is pretty cool though, you have to admit.”

“...oh. So you’re that type of degenerate then...”

“Wh-what? What do you mean?”

For this afternoons meeting of the ‘minds’ at their café hangout, Hajime had been delegated the task of buying the drinks, and when he returned he found Makoto and Tenko bickering about... who knows what. How cool Kyoko was? “Hey, the only thing that really matters is whether or not Tenko gave us away.” His stare lingered as passed Tenko her boba tea.

“Yes yes, I didn’t tell her anything weird, alright! I stuck with your story, but I dunno if Kyoko bought it. Even after I told her that gender doesn’t matter in Neo Aikido, I don’t think she entirely believed me about why I started to train with you. Makoto, you’re friends with her, can’t you convince her we aren’t suspicious?”

Sipping from his bottle of water, Makoto waved off the suggestion. “Uh, I think that that would only make us look more suspicious. Although, I do wonder why she hasn’t spoken to me about it yet... I hope she just thinks I’m already telling her everything...”

Tenko jeered at Makoto, her mouth twisting into a downright abnormal formation. “So not only are you the type who likes to feel beneath women, you’re also someone who leads girls on? You’re even more degenerative than I’d thought.”

Makoto almost spat the water he was drinking right back into Tenko’s face at that. “H-hey, come on...! I’m not like that! I just... I don’t want... I don’t want her to get involved in anything too dangerous...”

Tenko scoffed in return. “There is no way that’s true. You’ve totally got a hidden agenda. Kyoko must be one of the most prepared people to tackle what we do, more so than you two at least.”

She wasn’t wrong. It stung a bit, but she wasn’t wrong. And Hajime had suspected that there was a little more to Makoto’s wish to keep Kyoko out of their scheme... but under Tenko’s own heated stare, he looked so dejected... “Come on Tenko, leave him alone. Maybe it’s something personal, you know?” Makoto looked surprised, but gave Hajime a small side smile. “Let’s talk about something else. Exams, for example. They will be starting a week from now. How’s your prep going for them?”

Tenko immediately shrunk back. Guess that was what Celeste might have called a tell. “I-it’s... it’s going, that’s for sure...”

“I think my studies are going pretty well, but I guess I’ll only know when the exams actually start. The first ones of the year always come so quick though...” Makoto seemed to have perked up again, but there was no doubt all three possessed a degree of test anxiety. 

“Same here. But I feel like so much has suddenly started happening in my life, even since this week started I’ve been roped into helping with painting and I’ve started taking lessons on how to, uh, play games better.” Thinking about it, it would probably sound a bit odd to confess to learning how to lie, though the sideways glance Tenko gave him indicated that she had a clue what he was talking about. Did she have experience with a professional liar as well?

“Oh, me too actually. It kinda feels like I’ve been spending more time than usual with a few of my classmates. I’ve even started to talk to the Ultimate Lucky Student in Class-77. He’s... a strange one...”

Two pairs of eyes landed on Tenko, who was sipping her boba in an attempt to look innocuous. “What? I haven’t really changed my lifestyle much recently, no. Maybe it just took till now for you two to come out of your shells.” Makoto laughed at Tenko’s playful jab, but for Hajime the sentiment rang true. What’s happened to him recently... even an event like this one... that would have never happened to the Hajime of yesteryear. In a weird way, he owed it all to Miu for dragging him out of his class that day...

Tenko was quick to switch the topic though, perhaps in an attempt to make herself included again. “That stuff is all well and good, but what do you guys have planned for the end of Golden Week? No school till Monday sounds great to me. I’m going to be spending my time with Himiko and Angie. Probably spend some time training with Sakura as well.”

Makoto shallowly laughed in a way that clearly meant ‘I have no idea who most of those people are’. “That’s cool Tenko. I’m probably just going to be studying honestly. I’d love to be out having fun, but I just don’t really have the luxury. Right Hajime?”

“Uh, actually, I kinda have plans too. Sort of. There’s someone who seems to want to hang out with me everyday, but I don’t think I can manage that. If I can, I’d like to divide up my days. I might try and spend some time with her on Saturday, but do something else tomorrow and on Sunday. I have grades to maintain after all...”

Apparently satisfied with the meeting, Tenko stood up from their table, groaning as she did. “Well, if you really want to Hajime, I guess you can come with me to see Angie tomorrow. But you better be ready to train afterwards.” She aggressively pointed at him, but that finger soon shot to the sky as Tenko made her sign-off declaration. “And that’s a rap team! Tenko’s Justice Patrol, disperse!”

“Tenko’s Justice Patrol, disperse!” Makoto echoed. 

“Dude... you really don’t have to...”

“Oh, come on Hajime, I kinda like the name. It’s fun. Right Ten-“ Tenko had already bolted, tired of the argument they hadn’t even had yet. To be fair to her, Hajime did always bring it up whenever he could. 

Hajime and Makoto stood to leave too, but before they could Makoto popped a seemingly innocent question. “Hajime do you... do you think I’m cool?”

Grinning, Hajime lightly patted Makoto’s back. “Cool? Uh, not really. I see you more as the lovable goof type. What was it you said before? You’re like oil, or something. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s a good thing. You’re very... approachable. Yeah, approachable.”

There was a moments silence, but a soft chuckle from Makoto eventually won out over it. “Heh, yeah, I guess you’re right...”

It was becoming all too routine for Hajime to find Sonia waiting outside of the Reserve dorms for him, with that sunny, eager smile plastered over her face. “Good evening Hajime. Did you have a nice day?”

“... didn’t you...? Uh, never mind. I did have a good day, thank you. I assume you’re here because you want to know about what I’m doing the next few days?”

“Oh? Very perceptive Hajime. You have remained firmly on that ball.”

“... I think you mean on the ball.”

“Do I? Well, no matter, one cannot shed tears over a spillage of milk!”

Hajime stared blankly back at Sonia. Yeah, maybe he was right to only spend one day with her. “As it turns out, I’m pretty busy. We can spend Saturday together though.”

Sonia smiled sweetly, but the way she cocked her head seemed almost mocking. And considering what she said next, that seemed fitting. “Oh dear Hajime, you haven’t learnt anything from your lying courses, have you? Will you not allow me accompany you on your painting endeavours tomorrow? I am quite excited to partake in some finger painting, or even the fabled fridge art!” All her suggestions were so juvenile...

The fact that Sonia knew plans he’d only come up with a few hours ago was horrifying, to say the least, but somehow expected. She was some kind of ethereal being, wasn’t she? And if she knew what he was getting up to, she’d just follow him anyway, wouldn’t she?

Really, Sonia didn’t need a verbal answer, Hajime was well aware that his Golden Week holiday’s would be spent in Sonia’s company. Just what did she have planned...?


	29. Chapter 27

Friday, May 3rd

“Y-you know... this wasn’t really what I had in mind when I said I’d help out.”

“Tenko, please just focus. If you drop me...” The infrequent wobbling of Tenko’s arms whilst her hands balanced Hajime’s entire body flat above her head filled the both of them with a pronounced dread. Neither one of them wanted to end up in a heap, even if it was for slightly different reasons between them. 

Hajime couldn’t help but blame Sonia for this turn of events. Sonia was sitting with Himiko and Angie, all three of which were attempting to capture the... sight... of Tenko and Hajime. He was certainly glad Tenko was the one doing the lifting, but that didn’t mean she could last forever. And even if she could, she would occasionally give Hajime a scare by clenching the fingers of the hand that was supporting his chest. It probably wasn’t intentional, but somehow even her fingers felt like they could crack him in half like he was an egg. 

If only Sonia hadn’t tagged along, they could’ve done this a little more simply. Well, as simply as still-life drawing in Angie’s dorm room could be. Angie’s original plan had apparently been to just pair off and maybe rotate, but, eager to get everyone involved in creating stuff, Angie elected him and Tenko to be their muse for today. 

“T-Tenko, can you hold my other leg now? I can’t keep it up any more...” Tenko’s hands obviously weren’t large enough to hold and support both of Hajime’s legs, so, combined with how much taller he was than her, that meant that Tenko’s arms and his own balancing skills were really put to the test. 

Even if they were hating it though, the other three seemed to be having fun. So that was... good. Angie was just as enthusiastic about her art as usual, and Himiko’s eyes sparkled as she sketched the two of them. Hajime had only met her briefly last Sunday, but he’d gotten the impression that she wasn’t really the type to show such elation usually. As for Sonia... she’d been rather insistent about that finger panting... her hands were a mess of blues and browns and greens. Hajime was dressed pretty simply after all, the only colour you’d need to add was the green of his tie, and the black of his jeans. Tenko on the other hand... at least she was constantly dressed in blue. Similarly to his experience with Himiko, this was only the second time he’d seen Tenko wear anything other than the school uniform, and it still looked out of place on her, but he couldn’t quite tell why... maybe it was the frilled skirt? Or all those hair ties? Potentially the pinwheel ribbon in her hair, or even her choker. Essentially the whole outfit was a mess. If anything, it revealed to Hajime that Tenko was certainly not as fashionable as she was strong. 

Sonia suddenly began to clap, specks of paint whizzing off of her hands, dotting Angie’s floor, and the brim of Himiko’s witch hat with a swampy mess of colour. “I have reached completion! That was splendidly fun. May we do another?”

Both Hajime and Tenko’s stomachs sank. Angie peered over at Sonia’s work, her bright smile not faltering for a second. “Yes yes, but I think it is about time to switch it up a little bit, to give ourselves some one to one time with Atua’s dedicated muses.”

“Nyeh...! B-but I haven’t finished yet...” The sparkle in Himiko’s eyes was immediately replaced with an apprehensive determination, her tiny hand scrambling across her page. 

“I’m sure you can work from memory Himiko. This simply means that you can continue alone while the rest of us pair up.” Angie clearly wasn’t to be dissuaded, and Himiko seemed to be okay with that, her rapid pace slowing to a crawl again. 

The other four quickly paired off, Hajime and Tenko glad for their break. Strangely though, in Hajime’s mind, he found himself paired with Angie instead of Sonia. He’d assumed Angie would want Tenko, but... oh well, it didn’t really matter. 

Angie surprised him again, however, when she handed him the paintbrush though. “Huh? I thought... you’re the artist here Angie, shouldn’t you...?”

Angie gently shook her head, her body slightly tilting, as if she were about to sway side to side, but hesitated instead of going all in. “That is correct, but I want everyone to have fun today. That means you too Hajime.”

It was a sweet notion, Hajime had to admit. For someone she’d just met, Angie was pretty nice to him, if demanding sometimes. Before he could thank her though, Angie began to wriggle out of her yellow coat, which forced Hajime to focus instead on the paper he’d been handed as well. “A-Angie?! What are you-“

“I don’t need it if I’m not doing art, do I? Come now Hajime, get to the drawing! You don’t want Tenko to beat you, do you?”

Hajime looked over to Tenko and Sonia, and Tenko had indeed already started, but by the fumbling of her hands in simply gripping the pencil she’d picked up, Hajime didn’t suspect he’d have any ‘competition’- this wasn’t even a race to begin with. Although, he did have his own problem. He was struggling to directly look at Angie. Seriously, aside from the tools around her waist, she was basically just wearing her underwear. Why had she taken off her coat and not the tools anyway? Maybe it was better that she didn’t though. It just felt weird is all, even though Angie’s coat had been wide open anyway, so it wasn’t as if Hajime was suddenly privy to anything he hadn’t seen before, but still...! 

As he was thinking, he could feel Tenko’s fiery stare burning into him. Ugh, so much for this being fun...

“I can’t believe you used this opportunity to creep on Angie!”

“And I’m telling you, that isn’t what happened! She took her coat off by herself, it had nothing to do with me!”

The other three were busy cleaning up Angie’s room while Tenko and Hajime argued as they often did. In a way, Tenko found comfort in it, she liked routine, and this had become a fairly important part of hers. What she didn’t like though was losing, and Hajime wasn’t backing down on his claims. She’d need to hit elsewhere. “Oh yeah? As if I’d believe that. You try and look all professional, but you’re still a degenerate deep down. Who even wears ties casually anyway?”

Defensively, Hajime gripped his tie, apparently he was fond of the thing. “Hey, at least what I’m wearing looks normal! Unlike yours...”

“It’s better to look unique than like some generic worker!”

Before they could continue, Sonia stepped between them. She wasn’t explicitly there to stop them however. “Oh my, you two fight with such fervour, like an old married couple! Are you dating?”

A quiet, yet shocked ‘Nyeh!’ rose from somewhere in the room, but Tenko was miraculously more concerned about something else. Particularly that the idea didn’t make her stomach churn. It didn’t make her happy either, but the fact that she didn’t want to puke at the thought of dating a man was certainly alarming. “Pshh, not a chance!”

Hajime echoed her words, but their argument didn’t resume where it had left off. Instead, it had ground to a halt, entirely derailed by Sonia’s interjection. Had she planned for that?

When everything was cleaned up and put away, the five of them gathered to hear Angie’s last words to the group. “Thank you all for your contributions today! Atua is most pleased by the simply divine work you all produced. He and I would also like to thank Tenko and Hajime for their muse work today. It was quite a challenge, but you both worked wonders.” Hajime knew it wasn’t really that big a deal, but it was nice to feel appreciated. In fact, Angie was very proficient at that overall, wasn’t she? She appeared very skilled at flattery and complimenting. Oh well, there was no reason he should try to glean anything more from that, she was just a nice person. It was kind of hard to believe she was a first year, and in the same class as Miu no less. He didn’t really have any objections on getting closer to Angie like he did with her...

‘You feel like your bond with Angie has grown deeper...’

The Angie Yonaga Social Link has reached Rank 2.

With their little art gathering over, it was time for that training Tenko had promised Hajime. She’d sent him down to behind the dorm building, which was to be where they would meet with Sakura soon, but whether or not Sonia would join them was up in the air. Tenko hadn’t left yet though, there was something she’d been putting off, and now that she had Angie and Himiko together with her, it felt like it was now or never for her to tell Himiko what she’d promised to. 

“H-hey, Himiko, there’s something-“

Himiko pressed the piece of paper she’d spent the entire session drawing on against Tenko’s stomach before she could finish talking. It was an adorably bashful gesture, matched only by the way she was trying to use her hat to cover up her flushed face. Tenko struggled to contain her ‘squee’ as she took a look at the drawing she’d been given... and at Himiko, of course. 

It wasn’t the greatest piece of art she’d ever seen, the lines were messy, some of Himiko’s colouring spilled outside of the lines, but to Tenko it was absolutely perfect. Himiko has taken the pose Hajime and her had been forced to do, and altered it to look more... fantastical. Rather than her actual outfit, Himiko had drawn her to look more like some kind of magical girl, a Sailor Scout might have been the best comparison, Tenko’s two twin tails blowing in a nonexistent breeze; a cocky grin on her masked face. Funny, the mask almost looked like a cropped version of Eros’. Tenko could only interpret that coincidence as a sign, a sign that Himiko was capable of looking deep into her soul, and uncover the truest form of her heart. And she supposed Hajime looked kind of cool with that cloak and top hat. “D-do you like it...? I tried really hard, but I’m not as good as Angie...”

“Himiko, I absolutely love it! I-I-“ Time suddenly froze for Tenko. Hesitation flooded her mind. This is exactly what she’d wanted, wasn’t it? This sort of relationship with Himiko. So why... no, she knew why there was an ocean of guilt pooling inside of her. The only reason they had become any closer at all was because of what she’d done to Angie. Even if this was what Tenko wanted, the formation of it was all wrong. 

That was without considering some of the implications for Himiko. The fact that Angie and herself vanishing for even a day or two caused this big a change to Himiko’s behaviour... it was unhealthy. It was just wrong. She was, and is, too dependant on others. The problem was... was that Tenko wasn’t willing to throw that progress away. 

“Tenko...? Are you okay? You look pale...”

“Huh?! Oh, n-no, I’m fine. All fine. Thank you for worrying about me Himiko, heh-heh-heh... heh-heh...”

The sorrowful confusion spreading over Himiko’s face tightened the knot of torture inside of Tenko. She felt like something within her was trying to rip her apart. Her mouth felt dry as she struggled to make heads or tails of the situation in her heart. 

“Come now Tenko, I’ll bet the stress of our exams is just getting to you. I understand painting isn’t relieving for everyone, so why don’t you go and do that meditation you wanted to do with Hajime. Go on, go go!” Angie swooped in with that save, but... was it really for the best if Tenko just abandoned ship here? Angie must’ve know what she wanted to do, yet she still gave Tenko the chance to bail. 

With a heavy heart, Tenko shakily bowed, and ran as fast as she could out of Angie’s room, Himiko’s drawing still clutched tightly in her hands. 

Why did she run...? Why...? Did she not have the strength of heart, or the conviction that she believed she had? 

Of course she didn’t... she was still a coward unable to face reality. 

Compared to Tenko’s usual brand of training, her meditation style was downright relaxing. At the end of the day, it was just a lot of deep breathing and concentration exercises. It was a nice change of pace to Hajime’s usual day to day activities, with Tenko at least. 

And since Sonia had insisted on accompanying him, he didn’t feel quite so out of place when hanging out with Tenko and Sakura, considering that Sonia was built seemingly as flimsily as he was. Not that that really mattered whilst meditating, but it helped with his mindset, so it might have actually helped him to calm himself in a roundabout way.

However, Sonia’s presence truly meant little compared to the overwhelming animosity that was leaking from Tenko. Hajime didn’t need to be a spiritual expert to see that Tenko was upset about something, and Sakura picked up on it as well. 

When Tenko had first joined them, she had insisted that she was fine; they all knew she was lying. What had happened in the short time he’d left her? 

Any concentration he’d had on that was abruptly cut short when the choking sound of heavy sobbing began to reverberate around them. Hajime’s eyes shot open, only to bear witness to Tenko... bawling. Just... crying, harder than he’d ever seen anyone cry in his life. “Tenko?!” Hajime cried. 

“Tenko, what’s wrong?” Sakura had a similar reaction to Hajime’s, and hurried over to Tenko’s side. He followed her, but realised that Sonia was... gone? Oh well, Tenko was a higher priority right now. 

However, the chance of getting anything out of her was slim at best. Watching her, he could only compare the sight to as if she were crying like an infant. Hajime didn’t mean to imply she looked childish though, no, he saw this display as something raw and unfiltered, an unloading of pent up... something. 

“I’m a pretty terrible person...”

Tenko’s own words rang through his head upon seeing the state she was in. Was this a release of... of her shame? Her anger towards herself? “Tenko? Talk to us... what’s wrong?”

Tenko’s finally started to respond, but her words were sputtered, every sound she made seemed to strain her vocal cords as if she needed to gasp for air every time she got even half a word out. “H-H-Hi-Hiiii... Himiko... sh-sh-she-she...”

That was all. That was all Tenko could muster as the waterfall cascaded down her cheeks. 

What could he or Sakura even do? Silently, but unanimously, they agreed. They could do nothing. 

Tenko did eventually calm down, though Hajime had no idea how long it had taken. Watching her so distraught, every agonising second felt like a lifetime to him. Sakura was quick to resume her concern though. “Are you okay to talk now Tenko? Do you even want to talk?”

Her chin still quivering, Tenko nodded her head slightly. “I-I... I... I feel awful... I... she... Himiko...” Tenko’s fingers gripped around a piece of paper she was half sitting on. “Sh-she... I think she might... that she sees me as something... a-as-as something cool, or-or someone worth aspiring to be... and I... I’m...” It sounded as if Tenko was on the brink of tears again.

One of Sakura’s large hands gently gripped one of Tenko’s shoulders as she tried to offer her some comfort. “If it hurts to talk Tenko, it’s okay to stop. It may be healthy to let it out, but if you need time we can happily give it to you. Right Hajime?”

Silently nodding, Hajime sat otherwise motionless by Tenko’s side. Her chest was heaving, and yet she tried to collect herself and try again. “I’m such a coward. I’m pathetic. I can’t even... can’t even talk to my friends about serious stuff... I’ve always aspired to be a hero... turns out I was grooming a villain this whole time... Sorry you two, I’m gonna go back to my room. I need some rest today...”

Neither Hajime nor Sakura knew what had brought this on, but they both understood exactly how much it was devastating Tenko, so they let her leave without any resistance. 

“Should we have really let her go? Tenko’s the type to act irrationally, and that last part was pretty, uh, dramatic...”

Sakura smiled, but shook her head. “Have some faith in her. Emotional as she may be, Tenko has a better head on her shoulders than anyone is willing to give her credit for. There is something that worries me though.”

“Hmm? What?”

“Her relationship with Himiko. I’m sure you know as well as I do just how stubborn Tenko is, and that’s especially true when it comes to that girl. I’ve seen Tenko make a habit of pushing herself too far in the name of her friend physically before, but this is the first time I’ve seen her suffer emotionally because of that relationship. I fear that Tenko will one day push herself too far, that someone is going to be harmed beyond repair, be it Himiko, herself, or someone close to them both.”

Hajime was unable to really comment. Turns out, he didn’t really have Tenko all figured out. “You’re quite wise yourself Sakura. That whole thing was pretty shrewd of you. You’ve not known Tenko for that long, have you?”

Laughing, Sakura folded her arms. “You flatter me Hajime. It’s only natural that a student of Tenko’s will develop an understanding of their friends emotions. If you believe me to be exceptionally insightful, I can assure you that it is a result of our aikido master’s training.”

How could anyone be that modest? Deflecting all of the skill Sakura possessed onto Tenko like that... the two martial artists were very different, yet surprisingly similar all at the same time. They forced Hajime to realise just how far he’d need to go to fully mature himself. 

Sakura was wise, gentle, and kind, whilst also possessing great strength of heart, mind, and body. And Tenko... sure she was an emotional mess, but to feel comfortable in expressing that emotion, and identifying the root cause of her turmoil? She was a lot more mature than Hajime would have given her credit for. That’s how he saw it anyway, but maybe someone else would have felt differently. 

Perhaps he was just blinded by his budding friendship with the aikido master. 

‘You feel like your bond with Tenko and Sakura has grown deeper...’

The Martial Artists Social Link has reached Rank 3. 

By the time night had fallen, Hajime was exhausted. His dealings with Angie and Tenko drained him of most of his energy, but whether that was a bad thing or not was up in the air. Something more immediately concerning to him was Sonia’s disappearance. She hadn’t shown back up after Tenko’s breakdown. Where was she?

The vibrations of his phone shocked him out of his thoughts though. It was a call, and from Makoto too. 

“Makoto? Hey, I wasn’t expecting to hear from you tonight. What’s up?”

Makoto’s cheerful voiced flowed through his phone, finally the first wholly happy person he would talk with today! “Hey Hajime. I know this is a bit last minute, and it might be really inconvenient, but you know how you said you didn’t have anything planned for Sunday? Could you hang out with my sister then? Same place as usual of course, I just won’t be able to make it, studies, you know? If you can’t, don’t worry about it, I’ll-”

“Whoa, hey, slow down Makoto. Sure thing, I’ll keep Komaru company on Sunday.”

“You will? Oh, thanks Hajime. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue, but... uh, never mind, it’s not important. Again, thanks. And I’ll talk to you later!”

“Yeah, bye.” Well, that was suddenly dropped in his lap. Sure, he probably could’ve benefited from an extra day of studying, but he would always take an excuse to get out and about instead of staying cooped up inside studying.


	30. Chapter 28

Saturday, May 4th

Roused from sleep by a soft, yet vigorous knocking at his door, Hajime trudged out of his bed to answer it. He wasn’t in an alert enough state of mind to have been expecting anything, and yet the fact that it was Sonia who had come around to find him was still surprising to him. 

“Huh...? Sonia? It’s like, eight in the morning, what are you doing here?”

As ever, Sonia smiled near cluelessly back at him. Or maybe obliviously was the better word. “Yes, it is. What is the problem Hajime? We need all the time we can get today. Are you not ‘mega hyped’ to spend the day ‘crashing’ with me?”

The blank expression Hajime returned her comments with seemingly left little actual impact. “... you know I only get back to my dorm at, like, half five, right? I’ve gotten two hours of sleep at best.”

“Hajime, that is utter bogus! You sleep all the time whilst you guard that machine. It is honestly quite embarrassing. And that doesn’t stop you from waking up to go to school nice and early. Even if you do sleep through a lot of your early classes.”

Okay, she wasn’t wrong... damn, she really did know a lot about what went on with and around him, didn’t she? What actually were these Velvet Room attendants, for them to have this sort of omniscience? “Fine... I’ll go and get ready...”

“Please do. As cool as the scruffy look is, you need to wear a different shirt than the one you did yesterday. Pit stains are so not you. Nor are they chic.”

Grumbling, Hajime closed his door. This better be good... and definitely not as emotionally charged as yesterday. Speaking of, he wondered if Tenko was okay... she probably was, she tended to bounce back quite quickly, but that didn’t make him any less worried about her. 

There wasn’t anything explicitly wrong with the door the two were facing, but there was a certain energy radiating from behind it. Evil was a strong word; it did however fit the feeling Hajime got from it. 

Sonia wasn’t bothered by it at all though. If anything, she seemed even more bubbly than usual. No one had answered the door when she’d knocked, but, again, that didn’t seem to bother her. As if she expected that to be the case. Regardless, it meant that Hajime had an opportunity to ask Sonia something. “Hey, what happened yesterday? I mean when you just vanished. What was up with that, we could have really used your help with Tenko yesterday.”

“I wasn’t needed anymore. You saw all you needed to, so I left.”

She made it sound so simple, as if that were obvious. Her explanation felt lacking however, all things considered. “Uhh, okay then... I don’t really get it but-“

The door before them swung open, a booming voice flowing from the doorway as it did. “What is the meaning of this? Dark Princess, you’d bring a mere mortal to my realm?” What the...?

Sonia again seemed unfazed, rolling right along with this performance. “Apologies Gundham, I wished to alert you beforehand, but I failed to find the time. Rest assured however that Hajime here is far more than just an everyday man, despite his looks. He has begun to master his heart, and he possesses a magic all his own, even if it is quite weak right now.”

“Hmm? So, he’s a hero then? Fu-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaa! Perfect! He shall make for an interesting opponent, an opposing force to my all consuming darkness!” What in all hell were these two talking about? If this guy was this strange, was he the same as Sonia? Some other-worldly being? While his appearance suggested so, it was maybe a bit too much. The heterochromatic eyes, the cartoonishly large scar over one of them, that flowing purple scarf... yeah, this guy was just strange, there was no way someone who was just like Sonia would give themselves away so blatantly. 

“Oh, Hajime, please, introduce yourself.”

“Riiiiight... hey, I’m Hajime Hinata. Pleasure to meet you?” He held out a hand to the other boy, but it went entirely ignored; he was too busy with all his posturing. 

“I am Gundham Tanaka, the Supreme Overlord of Ice! Remember it well, for it is a name that shall decorate the walls of history in its splendour! Ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaaa!” 

Hajime was shocked. Truly, and utterly, shocked. Speechless even. There was no way someone like this genuinely existed. Looking over to Sonia, he wanted to ask whether or not this was a joke, but Sonia was paying him no mind, her eyes were glued to this Gundham guy as they sparkled in... admiration?

“Come! Enter my lair. Within you shall discover the fate that awaits you, fiend.” Hajime wasn’t so sure that he was going to do that, but the strong nudge he received from Sonia’s elbow indicated that it wasn’t actually up to him. Bracing himself, he entered the ‘lair’...

And found it to be nothing like what he expected. Sure, there were bizarro glyphs and sigils decorating half the walls, but what stood out most was the giant hamster cage in Gundham’s room. There had to have been at least ten hamsters in there, scurrying about. Gundham had immediately headed over to the cage, but Hajime’s eyes were suddenly drawn to what he assumed was Gundham’s bed, and the big cat sleeping on it. And no, it wasn’t just a big cat, it was... a tiger...? A white tiger? “G-Gundham...? Is it safe in here with that thing...?”

Gundham’s head quickly snapped towards Hajime. “Thing? THING?! You dare offer such offence to one of my generals?! While it is true that she is one of the newest recruits to my army of hell, she is a member nonetheless! Be thankful that she is in a merciful mood, lest one of us tear you apart limb from limb! However! I cannot say the same of my Zodiac Generals. Consider yourself warned, Hajime Hinata.”

Oh... yeah, this wasn’t safe. This wasn’t safe at all! Before he could consider leaving though, Sonia pushed him further into the room, promptly forcing him to sit down as well. He wasn’t going anywhere... “I-if I have to be here... c-can you at least tell me what we’re doing?”

Sonia was happy to explain. Or... ‘explain’. “Well, we desired to try out a triple team game, so we humbly request that you act as our Dungeon Master for the day. Please Hajime?”

“I’m... sorry, you want me to want?”

Gundham scoffed, glaring down at Hajime. “You don’t even know that much? Pah! I may have some manuscripts that will aid you, but the only real teacher here is experience. I expect your worst, Master of the Dungeons!” Gundham promptly dropped down onto the floor, and began to crawl under his bed. Hajime could hear him fishing around for something- those aforementioned manuscripts?- which allowed Hajime to talk to Sonia a little more. 

“Why did you want me to do this? I don’t have a clue as to what a Dungeon Master even is.”

“Oh Hajime, calm yourself. We will offer you as much advice as we can along the way. Plus, we will be joined by another guest, and she is just as well equipped to teach as Gundham. You will be fine. I must confess, I believe this is going to be ‘very epic’.”

That hadn’t filled him with confidence, but to defy Sonia felt pointless. This might turn out at least slightly enjoyable... if he survives. 

It didn’t take long for Gundham to pull out his manuscripts, which were really just some instruction booklets for a... game? So, they were just playing a board game? As he read through them, it became apparent that it was a little more than just a board game though, it was some sort of role playing thing. Were these called table-top RPG’s, or were they something else?

When he looked up to ask Sonia, she was gone. Not completely this time, instead she’d joined Gundham in pulling more stuff out from under his bed. Geez, they didn’t need that much stuff for this, did they?

Or maybe they did, after all, Hajime had finished reading through all the manuals before they had finished getting out their stuff. He was apprehensive to join them however, he kept on eyeing that tiger...

That was when someone else knocked on the door. Their last player? Gundham shouted from under his bed, “Mortal, quickly! Make haste for the entrance! Lower the gates for our Grand Magician!”

Thanks to that shout, Hajime was hardly surprised when he opened the door and found that their last person was Himiko. Apparently Sonia wasn’t the only person he’d be spending two days in a row with... Himiko didn’t share in his complete lack of reaction at all. “Huh? What are you doing here? You didn’t really seem like you’d be into this sort of stuff...”

Hajime lightly rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, I’m really not. I’ve been dragged into this one pretty much entirely against my will. Anyway, uh, come on in?” Himiko followed Hajime back to where he had been sitting, and he noticed that she was acting a bit fidgety. “Uh... is something on your mind? I think we’ll have a while if you do...” He glanced back at Gundham and Sonia, both of whom had stopped pulling out junk, and were instead chatting about whatever it was that was under Gundham’s bed. What time wasters...

“It’s... it’s about Tenko. You’re friends with her, aren’t you? Is she... okay now?” Oh... of course she’d ask that. But how could he answer? He didn’t want to tell her that Tenko was potentially even worse than when she last saw her, but it’s not like he knew the exact truth either...

“Tenko is... uh, she’s better. A little. She was just, umm, suffering from a little self doubt is all. I’m sure if she isn’t fine now, she will be tomorrow.” Himiko didn’t look entirely convinced, but at least she’d stopped fidgeting and had started to smile. 

“Nyeh... good. I’m glad...” 

“Hah-hah, tremble and weep fiends! The gates of hell shall now swing open, revealing what our Dungeon Master has in store for us denizens of the underworld!” Gundham dropped a large plastic board down on the ground, tossing bags of dice and figures down with it. 

“Shall our heroes triumph in the face of this surely eldritch nightmare? Surely only the dark gods know!” Apparently Sonia didn’t want to be left out, chiming in with her own dramatic flair.

“... are they always like this?” Hajime queried. 

“Yep... it’s really exhausting... they can be such a pain...”

Shuichi would not describe himself as an impatient person. He couldn’t really afford to be in his line of work. But even he had to admit that the fact that Kaito so often showed up late to gatherings he arranged in the first place late was a tad gear grinding. A sentiment Maki not only shared, but was more than happy to vocalise. “Where is that idiot? He always does this whenever he wants the three of us to hang out.”

“Now that you mention it, he never turns up late when it’s just me and him. I wonder why?” This was yet another mystery that Shuichi had no idea how to solve. Then again, that sort of mystery was part of Kaito’s charm- a man as incomprehensible as the universe he adored so much. Whether that was a good thing or not... depends on the circumstance, he supposed. 

“It’s pretty inconsiderate of him too. You actually have a day off for once and he still can’t be on time.”

“I-it’s alright Maki. I don’t really mind. It’s not like I’m sitting around alone, y-you’re here, aren’t you?”

Maki flippantly brushed strands of her hair behind her ear. “Whatever. I talk to you everyday though. I struggle to believe you don’t get bored of me.”

That took Shuichi aback. Her tone of voice didn’t give it away, but was Maki feeling self conscious about those calls she’d often make to him? “Huh? Of course not Maki. Why would I ever get bored of talking to you?” When Maki turned to silently stare at him, he quickly pulled the brim of his cap down, trying to avoid her intense gaze. “S-sorry! Did I say something weird...?”

The silence that followed was maddening, every nanosecond further increased the rapidly increasing tension Shuichi had brought upon himself. “It’s weird. Somehow, you’re a lot like Kaito, while being so different. You’re both weirdos.” And in an instant, that anxiety evaporated. 

“Heh-heh, I guess we are both weird, aren’t we...?”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s probably why we all get along. I wouldn’t call myself normal either.” When Maki smiled as she said that, Shuichi could have sworn he felt his heart skip a beat. And not for the reason it usually did, when he feared for his life around Maki. This was... well, it was probably because she was kind of cute when she smiled. He was certainly glad he hadn’t lifted his hat back up. He’d rather she didn’t see the look on his face. If she did, he probably would be dead. 

Meanwhile, in a bush a good distance away from those two, another duo had their eyes glued to the slowly unfolding scene. 

“See? I told ya Kaede! I knew my sidekicks had chemistry!”

“Shut up Kaito...! You’re supposed to be quiet when you spy!” Kaede couldn’t believe she was even doing this. She was wholeheartedly against intervening in the personal lives of her friends like this, especially when it came to romance, but she just... she just really wanted to know if Kaito was right. If Shuichi and Maki would actually be good together... And from what she’d seen, he might’ve been right. 

It hurt... a lot. 

“Uh, right, my bad. Still, I knew it. You were telling me it was a dumb idea and everything, but they are absolutely hitting it off. Damn though, they are both dense as all hell. They seriously came out in school uniforms to hang out with me? Not to mention that they can’t even see the sparks flying right in front of them. Good thing they’ve got me looking out for them, huh?”

“Okay, now you’re just overselling it. And they look fine, their outfits look good on them. Colour coordinated and everything. Doesn’t Maki look great in red?” Was it hypocritical to try and use this opportunity to push her own agenda? Probably, but...

“Heh, I know right? Shuichi ain’t exactly in blue, but it’s close. They’re like, uh, what’s the word...? A reflection? Oh, a mirror! Mirrors of each other. Yeah! No, wait, that would mean they look the same... whatever, they look like opposites, counter parts, that sorta thing. Everyone knows opposites attract, there’s a good reason that stuff is grounded in romantic tradition!”

Damn it, he didn’t take the bait at all... “Well, isn’t it about time you go and meet up with them? You can’t keep them waiting for too long, can you?”

“Dammit, you’re right! Thanks for that Kaede! You know, we make for a pretty good team.” Flashing a grin and a thumbs up, Kaito began to crawl out of the bushes, in a decent enough manner as to not be spotted. 

Kaede couldn’t hold in her sigh. This wasn’t the first time she’d joined Kaito in spying on Shuichi for the sake of his romantic life. He’d been pretty invested in making sure he didn’t accidentally fall for Himiko a little while ago. Kaede had always doubted that it would happen, but she still joined in anyway, and it made her feel awful. Like real scum. It was the lot she’d cast though, so she’d learn to live with it... live with her own selfish desires...

“Fah! Not so bad, for one of such a lowly astral level!” Hajime had lost track of the time they’d spent playing this game... his brain was fried from not only thinking up some scenario ludicrous enough that Gundham, Sonia, and Himiko were all willing to play, but was even more shattered by all the ridiculous stuff that they’d insisted they could do in the game. If only these three had actually experienced real combat, they wouldn’t be so picky and choosy with everything, or so flashy with their attacks. He couldn’t even punish them by sticking to high roll successes, because all three had been blessed by some deity of luck...

“Yeah yeah... thanks...”

“Hmph. It is time to once again bind these implements. Come Sonia! Help me return these artefacts to their rightful chambers!”

That innocent smile on Sonia’s face wasn’t fooling Hajime. Something devious was going on in there... “Oh, my apologies Gundham... after that adventure, I have been rendered ‘massively shook’. Won’t you allow Hajime to help you?” Clearly Himiko wasn’t an option, as soon as they’d finished, she’d almost immediately passed out. Her soft snores were already filling the air around her. 

Gundham grumbled for a few seconds; Hajime was inclined to join in with that, he had no real desire to help with this... he just wanted to go back to his room now. “Hmph... I suppose... He has been granted passage into my empire, so this whelp ought to learn of the order within!”

Great... And that’s how Hajime ended up spending another half an hour in Gundham’s room, singlehandedly putting away all the stuff they’d used for their game. Gundham just stood by barking orders, and considering that Himiko and Sonia had both disappeared, he imagined Sonia had taken Himiko back to her room. 

What had even been the point in this? Based on Sonia’s blatant friendship with this guy, and the ‘help’ she had been claiming to be giving him, was she trying to force him into a friendship with Gundham? Could Hajime even be friends with someone like Gundham, so caught up in their own fantasy world?

“Well done Hajime Hinata, your induction ceremony has been completed. While you may be only slightly above a normal human now, that makes you one of us. Like it or not, this empire will become a home for you, in time, just as it houses the Great Magician and Dark Princess.” At the very least, Hajime had to admit that Gundham’s dedication to the act was phenomenal. 

Actually, if he tried to peel back the theatrical layers of what Gundham was saying, that veil of ‘darkness’ fell rather quickly. It sounded like Gundham kinda wanted to be friends himself. “Uh... I guess. If you need me to, I can come by and do this again. But not too often, alright! This took hours to finish...”

“Perfect...!” Gundham didn’t give Hajime a very satisfying response, but that might have been for the best. Well, Sonia had pushed for this, and Hajime knew that there was no point trying to go against her. 

How many ‘friends’ was he going to make that forced him to wonder if he’d survive the relationship?

Thou art I... And I am thou... Thou hast established a new bond... 

It brings to thee a new hope...

Thou hast been blessed by the Jester Arcana...

By the time Hajime returned to his dorm, it was already evening. And lo and behold, who was waiting for him?

“Sonia...”

Still she smiled. Honestly, it was starting to get creepy. “Hajime.”

“... is there more? Am I going to have to do more with you?”

“Oh? Are you getting bored of spending time with me? My apologies. You may be excited to know that I have no plans for tomorrow then. You are free to do as you like.” Great, now Hajime felt kinda bad for thinking that she was creepy, the forlorn look on her face as she stared at the ground was crushing. Ultimately, she was just as human as he was, where it counted. 

“I... I’m sorry. It’s just been a busy two days, that’s all. I guess I just don’t really get it, you say that you and Igor are trying to help me, but I just don’t understand how what you are doing is helping me.”

While Sonia still looked a tad pained, her face shifted to an expression of understanding. “Ah, right, I suppose it would be a mite difficult to tell. Some may even argue that someone who is not a Wildcard does not need to deepen their bonds so much. I have always felt differently however. I wish to expand your horizons Hajime. Is that not what you wanted too?”

Once again, she was right. And even though her explanation was still pretty vague, at least she was telling Hajime anything at all. “So you’ve just been trying to get me to make friends? Is that it? I guess I only really had a problem with it because it feels like you’re pushing me in whatever direction you want, rather than what I’d want.”

Sonia softly laughed. It sounded genuine too... “Right, I suppose I can be a bit pushy. I’ll admit, it isn’t very ‘cash money’ of me, but as an experienced ruler, I find it natural to have others follow my word without question. Truly, the blame lies with me.”

Hang on, experience ruling? “Sonia? Who are you exactly? Might I ask what your talent is?”

“Did I not introduce myself before now? Oh my, how careless of me! I am Princess Sonia Nevermind, of the Novoselic Kingdom. I am the Ultimate Princess. But please, treat me as you would anyone else.”

What? She was a Princess?! Hope’s Peak was no stranger to foreign students, he was pretty confident in saying that Angie was foreign too, as was Celeste, but... a Princess? Still, she said to treat her like anyone else... “You’re... a Princess? Oh... I thought you were just an attendant for the Velvet Room?”

“That is an easy enough mistake to make. I am very sorry for the confusion. Now, I shall leave you be. Enjoy your evening Hajime, and your Sunday!”

Wow... Hajime would have never seen that coming, not from a mile away. The revelation had lead to him understanding a little more about Sonia’s personality though, and he was glad she wasn’t taking what he’d said personally. She was a better person than him, he was certain of that. 

He did hope she’d continue helping him as well, just maybe in a slightly less meddlesome way. 

‘You feel like your bond with Sonia has grown deeper...’

The Sonia Nevermind Social Link has reached Rank 2.

Wait... he’d never heard of Novoselic before...

Sunday, May 5th

As with the last couple of Sunday’s, by the time Hajime arrived at the arcade, Komaru was already there waiting for him. And despite the fact that it was going to be just the two of them, she looked as cheerful as ever. “Hey Komaru. Guess it’s just us today. Do you not have any exams coming up that you should be studying for like Makoto?” Or himself...

Komaru nervously scratched her cheek, not even trying to maintain eye contact. “Heeeey Hajime... yeah, I, uh, totally don’t have any exams or anything at all. I would never do anything like dodge studying... heh-heh...” Geez, and he thought he was a bad liar. 

“Right. Apparently you aren’t like Makoto in that way then.”

“Hey, come on! That’s only because he doesn’t know how to have fun. He can be such a goody-goody sometimes. Uh, sorry, you were already forced to spend time with me today, I’m sure you don’t wanna hear me complaining all day.”

“Forced? No, I chose to do this. Don’t worry about it.” He nodded towards the arcade building. “You want to start, or what?”

Komaru huffed at him, but quickly recovered, flashing him a cocky smirk. “Alright big guy, you’ve only played with Makoto here, but now you’re on my turf! Lemme show you how my games are played!” Definitely as energetic as usual. Smiling, Hajime rolled his eyes as he followed Komaru in. 

“So...! I’m sure it came out of the blue when Makoto asked you to hang out with me... Hup...! I’ve sorta made a habit out of getting Makoto to hook me up with some friends of his... Uh, not romantically or anything, just as friends!” Flustering herself, Komaru stumbled a little on her platform; she recovered pretty quickly though. 

Hajime really needed her to fumble about a bit more, she was absolutely destroying him in DDR. He just didn’t have the right coordination for this sort of stuff. Maybe that was why Tenko’s Shadow bested him so easily too. “I-it’s fine... but why... did you want to... meet with me... specifically?”

“To be honest, it’s just because Makoto has talked about you... Like, that’s just how I usually pick people out. One of his classmates has a cousin that’s pretty much the same age as me... so I tried hanging out with her... he’s also in the same class as one of my favourite authors, so... so I got him to help me meet her... she signed my copy of So Lingers and everything!” Komaru stamped both her feet on the platform, her left arm thrust in the air as a finishing pose. Talk about adding insult to injury, Hajime was only saved from collapsing by the backbar. A significantly less graceful finish. 

How had she barely broken a sweat? He could feel his shirt sticking to his back, and she looked the same as when they’d came in, with maybe a droplet of sweat here and there on her forehead. “C-compared to all of them... I’m sure I’m... nothing special...”

“Well... yeah. That’s what interested me, I guess.” Ouch. Still, what did she mean by that? She picked up on his silent question by the slight contortion on his face. “It’s just that I’m completely normal as well, you know. I am proud that Makoto got into Hope’s Peak and all, but it was really down to luck, so I’d consider him pretty normal too. But at least he technically is an Ultimate. We... just aren’t. So I guess I feel like I can relate to you, or something like that.”

This kind of talk reminded Hajime of himself actually. Not all that long ago, he would get himself all down thinking about this kind of stuff too. But ever since he’d befriended Makoto, that had changed. He barely ever paid any mind to the regular naysaying in the Reserve Course anymore, and because of that he’d become much happier... even behind that, he wouldn’t have met Makoto if Yasuke had bothered to tell him the details of the guard job, and Hajime wouldn’t have been there to get so thoroughly shot down by Yasuke if Miu hadn’t dragged him out of his class. “I know how you feel... but maybe it isn’t so bad, being normal? I mean, I think some people get a little too caught up on talent. I’m not so sure it’s the talents that matter anymore, I think what’s more important are the people behind them. But it’s not as if I’ve always felt that way, funnily enough I started thinking like that after I met Makoto.”

Thinking back on all the people he’d met recently, he hadn’t asked most of them what Ultimate they were, and usually only found out by mistake, like with Makoto. He didn’t know Celeste’s talent, or Himiko’s, not even Gundham’s. The old him probably would’ve only cared about their talents, and how cool it must’ve been to have them, now though... Komaru’s airy laugh snapped him out of his own head. “Hah, I think I get what Makoto sees in you. You are pretty cool after all.”

“I dunno about that...”

“Well this normal girl thinks you’re a pretty cool normal guy, so just take the compliment.”

Hajime couldn’t contain his smile; Komaru’s was infectious. “Thanks... hey, I’m going to go get some water. Want me to get you some too?”

“Yeah please! Thanks Hajime.” 

Komaru Naegi... in a lot of ways, she was just like her brother. Kinda dorky, but charmingly so. Very open with how they feel, and considerate of others too. They were both normal people at heart... the type Hajime had wished he’d known growing up. Oh well, better late than never, huh?

Thou art I... And I am thou... Thou hast established a new bond... 

It brings to thee a new hope...

Thou hast been blessed by the Lovers Arcana...

Hiyoko shot awake with a shaky gasp, her chest heaving, every breath hitching in her throat. She wiped away the drying tears on her cheeks with her tangled unbound hair, laying back down in her sea of golden locks. 

“It was just a dream... just a dream... nightmares aren’t real... they aren’t...” Hiyoko vigorously rolled out of bed, scrounging around her floor for one of her kimonos.

The fabric hanging loosely from her body, she grabbed a sash, and just wrapped it around herself a few times to make sure it wouldn’t all fall down. 

She ran as fast as she could in her current state out of her room, and barrelled down the short distance between her room and Mahiru’s. There wasn’t a moments hesitation before she grabbed for the doorknob, and started twisting it. 

Nothing. 

As it had been for the past month, it was locked. At any other time, Hiyoko would have once more lamented that fact, but tonight she was glad that the door was locked. That Mahiru was safe inside. Where nothing could get to her except for herself... there was no way... no way at all... no baseball bats... no-

Hiyoko slammed her forehead against Mahiru’s door, a fresh stream of hot tears washing down her face. As soon as she wiped them away on her creased sleeve, more would take their place. Did it even matter if her bad dream was just that when she was already living in a nightmare? Her own personal hell?

The halls were deserted. Of course they were, it was so late at night. No one would see her breaking down, and it was likely that no one would hear it either. Good. Good. Just fucking wonderful. 

When she’d finally managed to contain her tears, she’d realised that her throat was especially sore. Had she been... had she been crying out loud as well? She hadn’t noticed at all... The only way she was getting a drink at this time of night was to go to one of the drinking fountains in the lounge. Ugh, it was annoyingly far just to help her throat, but the walk might help her clear her head. 

Hiyoko knew that was bullshit the moment she thought it. Creeping downstairs, it might have all been in her head, but she could have sworn that with every step she took, the floor boards beneath her began to creak louder and louder. 

Ever since she’d accidentally run into Fuyuhiko that one time, when he came back to the dorms with a bat and camera, Hiyoko had been petrified of walking around at night, a constant fear playing in her heart and mind, images of her own death and the deaths of others flashing in her skull. It was all nauseating, another reason to get a drink and clear her throat. 

Reaching one of the drinking fountains, she realised that she was still breathing laboriously. It wasn’t because she was unfit either, was she really that scared? Scared of the dark, and some blonde brat who might be hiding in it?

Of course she was. 

Pulling her hair out of her face, she leaned in to drink, the cold splash of water sobering her up, even if it did send a slight chill down her spine. 

Hiyoko pulled back instantly.

Her breathing spiked again. That chill ran down her spine again. It wasn’t from the water at all, no, it was her senses telling her something, senses she’d be trained to hone. Was someone else down here? Someone behind her? She shakily cried out- “Who’s-“

If the blow to the back of her head hadn’t silenced her immediately, her forehead colliding with the metal drinking fountain certainly did. Her world went completely black. 

This wasn’t a nightmare, was it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fool- Tenko’s Justice Patrol: Rank 1  
> Hierophant- Angie Yonaga: Rank 2  
> Lovers- Komaru Naegi: Rank 1  
> Chariot- Martial Artists: Rank 3  
> Temperance- Koichi Kizakura: Rank 1  
> Devil- Miu Iruma: Rank 2  
> Star- Makoto Naegi: Rank 2  
> Aeon- Sonia Nevermind: Rank 2  
> Jester- Gundham Tanaka: Rank 1


	31. Chapter 29

Monday, May 6th

“Hey Kyoko. Uh, what are you doing?” 

When Makoto had come down to the dorm lounge, he hadn’t expected to find anyone there. It wasn’t exceptionally early, nor was it close to classes starting, but, from his prior experiences, very few students spent any time here in the morning. Even if he had expected anyone here, Kyoko would not have been anywhere near the top of his list. He rarely, if ever, saw Kyoko of a morning. 

She, however, wasn’t intent on responding. Not in depth at any rate. “Makoto. I’m waiting for Shuichi. I’d like to talk to him about something.” She was adamantly starting at, uh, well it looked like nothing in particular to him. 

“Oh, you are? Do you want some company while you wait? I’ve got time...”

“No. You can carry on. I’m sure if you get to school early they’ll let you in so you can use the library to study.” Brushed off, just like that. It stung, but it’s what Makoto had to expect from a personality like Kyoko’s. Didn’t make the sting any less painful though. 

“O-oh... okay... that’s cool. I’ll umm... I’ll see you later then.” He pulled his most convincing smile as he waved to Kyoko while heading out of the dorms, fairly dejected. At least she’d given him a small wave back, he could take some solace in that. 

Makoto sighed as soon as he was out of the building. That hadn’t kicked his day off so great. Kyoko hadn’t really been that open with him lately, she hadn’t even asked him to help her at all. Had he messed up too many times? Had he lost her trust? Did she... did she suspect his involvement? Or maybe all the blame was on him. He was purposely keeping things from Kyoko, so maybe she had detected that. 

Or maybe he was just being ridiculous. He was probably blowing this whole thing out of proportion. Kyoko was just a very serious person, that’s all. Yeah, that’s all...

Shuichi practically felt his spirit leave his body the moment he stepped into the lounge. As soon as he had, Kyoko’s head snapped in his direction, her intense glare shooting right through him. She obviously wasn’t glaring because of him, but just the fact that it had been sent in his general direction caused an uncomfortable shiver to run through him. Nervously, he approached. 

“G-good morning K-Kyoko... How-“

“Shuichi, take a look over by the drinking fountains.”

It was a command, not a suggestion. She’d bypassed his greeting too, but the cold tone to her voice indicated that it was probably warranted. What had she seen?

As soon as Shuichi stepped over towards the drinking fountains, he knew exactly why. His own blood ran cold. It wasn’t something immediately obvious from a distance, but anyone who came over to them would have seen it. 

The basin of one of the fountains had been dented ever so slightly, and, alarmingly, there were a few tiny specs of blood within that dent. What the...? What was this?

“This is a very neat crime scene, considering this obvious evidence.” Shuichi once again nearly shot out of his skin, Kyoko having snuck up on him. “There is no blood anywhere else, so I find it unlikely that this was the site of a murder. Instead, I think it would be accurate to suggest that this was where someone was attacked. Likely kidnapped afterwards.”

“What?! How can you-“

“Don’t be so loud Shuichi. Not here. It would be in our best interests to not alert any other students as to this event. Not yet.”

Shuichi shakily nodded as he stifled a gulp. An attack... here, in the dormitories? Murders in the actual school building was one thing; an attack this close to all these teenagers living space was something entirely different. “What are we going to do?”

“For now, we wait here. We don’t want anyone coming over here yet. I’ve already requested we take leave from school today, so we can spend it here investigating. I did some looking around earlier, and there’s a room we should look into later.”

“E-earlier? How early were you up? Why were you up?”

Kyoko thought in silence for a brief moment. “I have a sense for this sort of thing. I could tell something was wrong, so I investigated. As an Ultimate Detective yourself, don’t you ever feel the same?”

It hurt to admit that he didn’t. So he didn’t say it. Not out loud. Kyoko obviously knew, based on his reaction, but he didn’t really care, he just didn’t want to say it out loud. There was already a world of difference between himself and Kyoko, and he hated the fact that he’d just found yet another. 

Oh well, he needed to bench those feelings for now. They didn’t matter for an investigation. And this gave him the chance to prove himself all over again. Though a big part of him wished he’d never have to ‘prove’ his worth as a detective ever again. 

With everyone out of the dorms for school, Shuichi and Kyoko got to work. Although, considering how empty their ‘crime scene’ was, there was little to actually look at and the work mostly consisted of talking. 

“Considering that not a word seems to have spilled to any other students yet, and the fact the blood stain was left here untouched, I think it’s safe to say that our crime took place quite late at night. Unfortunately, without any witnesses, that makes our current situation a lot harder.”

Kyoko was definitely right about that. A blood stain was all they had right now, and while they could figure out who was attacked from that, it was going to be tricky to find a culprit. “True... with how dark it gets in here at night, I doubt the attacker would have noticed the blood, or this dent. This dent might have helped even further in hiding this tiny amount of blood. B-but for anything else we’ll have to call in a forensics expert to analyse the scene...”

“Not necessarily.” Kyoko raised a hand to her chin, smiling in that self assured way she often did when piecing a puzzle together. “This immaculate scene is quite revealing of our culprit. They clearly aren’t careless, and to so brazenly assault someone in their own dormitory indicates a few other possibilities. Either our culprit has a lot of confidence in their abilities, or they had no fear that they’d be caught.”

“What...? Are you trying to imply that the assailant was one of the students living here?”

Kyoko shook her head. “Perhaps. But that is quite a shaky claim. After all, under the cover of night, the darkness accomplishes much of disguise itself. Additionally, while I stayed here all morning, not a single student acted suspiciously. None seemed exceptionally nervous, nor did any steal a cautionary glance over here. Nor was anyone alarmed by my presence. Again, this isn’t exactly concrete evidence of anything, but that does affirm the theory that our killer is not particularly skittish.”

“I s-suppose that makes sense... if only we knew who our victim was though, that might help us out a bit. By the time the blood is examined, school might be over...”

Kyoko lightly chuckled to herself, waving her hand towards the staircase leading up into the girls side of the dorms. “Actually, I did learn something else whilst staking the area out this morning. There were only two students I didn’t see. Both of them third years. I’ve heard that one of them hasn’t left their room in a month.”

“Hmm... so is this second third year student our most likely victim then?” Kyoko nodded once again. Wow, she’d noticed all that? Of course, Shuichi had been down here for a while too, but he hadn’t thought to count out the students as they left. Kyoko was... nothing short of amazing. 

“Correct. Let’s go, I think we should have a look in their room, just in case. The state of the room might be important.” Considering where she’d gestured to, Shuichi wasn’t so sure he wanted to rummage around a girls room just on a hunch, especially not one of his seniors, but... it’s what had to be done. If they really were a victim, they deserved justice, and this was how that justice was going to be found. 

Upon arriving at the third floor of the dorms, the pair began to check every single door. And sure enough, one of them was unlocked. “Seems my theory holds some water. This room should belong to Hiyoko Saionji, if I’m not mistaken. One of the two unaccounted for students.”

“Hang on, Saionji? As in, the famous family of dancers?” Kyoko resolutely nodded as she headed into the room, taking care with every step she took. Shuichi was sure Kyoko had also picked up on this fact; the disappearance of a Saionji was a big deal. Assuming this was the same attacker as with the first victim, then this was very different. Too different. Natsumi Kuzuryu may have belonged to a very powerful yakuza family, but she was certainly in the shadow of her brother in that business. Miaya was almost entirely unknown on account of her personality type and the fact that a lot of her research hadn’t been made public, and if Tenko’s brief disappearance was linked to this string of crimes as well, then she carried on the trend of being someone with very little presence in the real world. 

Could this mean that the attacker didn’t know of her importance? Or... in the dark, was it possible that the attacker didn’t know who they were targeting? That was a scary thought, and unfortunately one that made a degree of sense. This wasn’t something to keep to himself. “Kyoko, do you think that the killer didn’t know who they were attacking last night? They just... attacked...”

He’d joined Kyoko inside, though he wasn’t sure what he should be looking for. The room was messy, but in a normal sort of way, if that made sense. Clothes were lying on the ground, as were packets of sweets and candy. “That’s a good point Shuichi. If Hiyoko were lured out of her room, then your theory might be null and void, but in the case that she wasn’t, the attack does seem somewhat spontaneous. I do wonder though...”

“Huh? Wonder what?”

“It’s a little ridiculous to imagine, but there is the possibility that this wasn’t the first attempt from our assailant. As in, they may have simply waited in the lounge for a few nights consecutively, waiting for their chance to strike a specific target. And if that was the case... our attacker would need... tremendous luck. Unfortunately, with so few clues left behind, this will be near impossible to solve.”

Something twisted inside of Shuichi’s chest. Impossible... impossible... no, no, it wasn’t... not another impossible case. The grim reality of being a detective was that you were only useful after it was already too late to help someone. If what they thought so far was true, and Hiyoko was the victim here, there was a chance she wasn’t dead though, right? They wouldn’t be too late, would they? They could use their detective skills to track her down, to save her if necessary... at least, Kyoko would. 

Shuichi didn’t want anyone else to be killed. Even if he didn’t know them personally, no one deserved that fate. The lives ruined by a murder... he’d never be able to know of them all. And for a big name like a Saionji, the ripple that could cause would be, well, more like a tidal wave...

“Uuuuuhhhhhhh...”

Shuichi peered over his shoulder, gulping when he saw the girl standing in the doorway of the room. 

Kyoko was quicker to respond, seemingly not caught off guard like he had been. “Calm down. We can-“

“Miiiiiiiiiikkkkaaaaaaannnnn!” Even If Kyoko had been relatively prepared, the girl still ran before she could finish. 

“Tch, damn it. Shuichi, stay here, I’m going after her. We don’t want this spreading around yet.” As soon as she’d said it, Kyoko took off out of the room, the clack of her heels soon fading out of earshot. 

He was by himself... this should have been his chance to find something case breaking, but what was there to look for in here? According to his and Kyoko’s theories, what he’d gleaned from Kyoko’s thoughts at least, all this room did was confirm the victim...

Oh... he had been left here because Kyoko didn’t trust him to stop that girl, did she? Crestfallen, Shuichi continued to pace around the room. He wasn’t looking for anything though, he was instead pacing for the sake of it, trying to clear his head. 

It only took about five minutes for Kyoko to return, having dragged the girl back to the room by the collar of her shirt. She was squirming, but it wasn’t proving to be very effective. “Ah, please, let Ibuki goooooo! I swear, I saw nothing! You can’t prove that I saw anythiiiiiiiinnngggg!”

Kyoko clearly wasn’t willing to put up with this for long, her mouth contorting into a frown. “Please calm down, and we will tell what we can. If you run, I’ll catch you again.”

She said it so menacingly... Shuichi was well aware of how scary Kyoko was, hell, he’d been somewhat on the receiving end earlier, but this was something else entirely... “Gah! Uh, okay, okay, Ibuki can do that! Ibuki can keep a secret...!”

Giving Shuichi a side eyed glance, she prompted him to speak with Ibuki. “Before we tell you anything, what were you doing here?”

“Oh, Ibuki came to fetch Hiyoko. She’s missed way too many days of school for my liking.” With how proudly she declared it, there was little chance that she was lying. In that case, there was a good chance she didn’t know anything about the attack. 

“Well, your friend was... well, we believe that she was attacked last night. That and... she seems to have gone missing. Uh, don’t worry, we’re detectives, Shuichi Saihara, and Kyoko Kirigiri. Rest assured we can and will find Ms. Saionji.”

Ibuki’s mouth hung open, her hands tensing as her eyes widened. “Wh... what... Hiyoko’s gone...?”

Kyoko’s grip tightened. “It would benefit us greatly if you were to not mention this to anyone yet. Causing a panic amongst the students may only invite further action from the assailant. Please understand.” She finally let Ibuki go, but she didn’t flee. She looked frozen... 

Shuichi could empathise with her. He suspected the two must have been close, so he understood how great a shock it must’ve been to hear this. Ibuki silently nodded her head, walking away at a snails pace. Poor girl...

“Shuichi, could you handle that blood examination? I’m going to look around the building some more, in case any other pieces of evidence were left behind. We’ll meet again after school hours are over, at the usual spot.” With little more than a flick of her hair as she turned, Kyoko trod the same path Ibuki had done a few moments prior. 

Alone again... delegated tasks again... then an idea struck him. “Blood analysis... the school records should... hmm...”

“O-okay Nagito... say ‘ahhh’.” Nagito obediently followed the command, allowing Mikan to place the spoonful of medicine into his mouth. 

Mikan loved taking care of Nagito. He always listened to what she told him to do, he never whined about any procedure she needed him to undertake... he was the perfect patient. There was certainly a degree of power that Mikan felt from that relationship as well, especially in times like this. For once, she could feel motherly, and that-

“MIKAN!” When Ibuki burst through the door to the nurses office with a blaring screech, Mikan herself screamed, accidentally jamming the spoon she’d been holding deeper into Nagito’s throat than was probably safe, especially considering that he began to choke.

“Oh no! Wh-wh-whaaaaaa!” All but ignoring Ibuki, Mikan rubbed Nagito’s back, obviously after removing the spoon. “I-I’m so sorry Nagito! I didn’t m-m-mean to...”

Through his coughs, he laughed in his usual raspy voice. “It’s okay. Just my luck in fact. I’m lucky to have such a talented nurse treating me, something unlucky just had to happen. Take it as a testament to your skill.”

Mikan couldn’t believe what she was hearing, someone was giving her... genuine praise? There wasn’t a hint of sarcasm or anything... She could feel the tears begin to form, her cheeks heating up. “I-I-I... thank yo-you Nagito... That m-means a lot to-“

“Aaahhhh, enough of this lovers talk!” Ibuki charged forward, grabbing Mikan by the shoulders. “Hiyoko was attacked last night! She’s gone missing!”

The world stopped spinning, or it might as well have done. 

Mikan could tell from the desperation in Ibuki’s eyes that she wasn’t messing around like usual. Something had happened, and it was serious. “She-she... what...? I... huh?”

Ibuki relentlessly tugged on Milan’s arm, trying to drag her out with her. “C’mon, we’ve gotta try looking for her! Please?”

Unsure of what to do, Mikan looked to Nagito. He simply nodded his head. “Umm... I’m s-so sorry N-Nagito...! I’ll b-be back soon!”

Both Ibuki and Mikan were well aware that they wouldn’t be able to find Hiyoko. But that hadn’t stopped them from trying. The rest of the day, the two scoured every location they could think that Hiyoko might have gone, a brief block of time filled by Ibuki explaining what she’d heard from the detectives. They’d even headed into town to check if anyone had seen her. 

Not a trace. 

It was as if she’d just disappeared off the face of the earth. By the time the two had returned to the dorms, it was already evening. On the way back, they’d agreed that there was one last thing that they wanted to try today. They doubted it would help find Hiyoko, but maybe... maybe it could achieve something else. 

The pair shared a worried glance, before Mikan nervously tapped at Mahiru’s door. “M-M-Mahiru... c-can you please come out! We-we need your help, Hiyoko has gone missing! P-p-please! This isn’t a j-joke! We need you! Please!”

A mix of desperation, fear, and lack of patience pushed Ibuki to pound on the door as well. “C’mon Mahiru! We need you! Hiyoko needs you! Hiyoko has tried to be there for you since you became a recluse, and she needs you to be there for her now! Please, you need to come out!”

Never in her life had Mikan felt so nervous, and that was seriously saying something. Even with Mahiru’s help, they wouldn’t be able to find Hiyoko, but if she came out, perhaps she could reclaim her place as the level headed one, the one who could organise efforts like the one they needed as a search party. It was the most selfish reason they could have had for getting Mahiru out of her room again; it was the best one they had right now though. 

She didn’t answer. Mikan had feared that that would have been the case, but judging by how dejected Ibuki looked, she had hoped this might finally be enough to spur Mahiru back into action. 

That wouldn’t be the case, would it? Why had they placed any hope on this? Why...?

They both shrieked when they heard the door creak open. 

And when they actually saw Mahiru in the doorway, Mikan screamed again, as Ibuki drew back. “M-M-Mahiru?! Oh my goodness, you look awful! What have you...?”

Mahiru’s skin was a deathly pale, far and away from the healthy glow she used to possess. She was noticeably thinner, her button-up shirt was hanging very loosely from her body, and Mikan could just about see her cheekbones too. Her eyes were reticent and downcast, all the joyful life they once possessed drained away, dreary bags painted beneath them, mirrored by the shadow above them created by her slightly longer fringe. The mostly healed scars on her arms didn’t avoid Mikan’s detection either, nor did her shallow breathing. 

Mahiru looked even more upset by their reactions upon seeing her again, but she didn’t retreat inside. Instead, she took some shaky steps forward, her legs trembling underneath her. “I’m fine... don’t worry about me right now... what... what happened to Hiyoko?”


	32. Chapter 30

Tuesday, May 7th

Finally coaxing Mahiru our of her room had turned out to be both a blessing and a curse. Sure, she’d opened up her room, and that allowed Mikan to have direct access to her, but she was so weak that it had only been a matter of seconds before she’d collapsed last night. 

Mikan had decided to spend the night by her side, checking Mahiru’s body from top to bottom, just in case she had any open wounds or anything of the like. Anything Mikan did find were old and had healed wonderfully. In fact, Mikan was actually impressed by the near surgical precision with which most of the cuts and scars on Mahiru’s body were made. They were perfect strokes... too perfect... as if someone else had been the one making them...

A gust of wind blew through the window in Mahiru’s room, the curtains fluttering slightly in the breeze. She hadn’t opened it, so Mahiru must’ve been the one who had. No wonder the poor thing felt so cold...

Back to Mahiru’s body. Strangely enough, there were a few other scrapes and bruises that were significantly less neat, all focused around her legs, especially her knees. Considering how she’d fallen earlier, perhaps all of these were a result of Mahiru trying to walk about at other times? Maybe she’d tried to answer the door before yesterday, but she couldn’t quite make it over...

The leg Mikan had placed her hand on tensed. She gasped, her eyes flying to Mahiru’s face. It looked like she was coming to, her jaw quivering whilst her eye lids clenched. “M-M-Mahiru, p-please, it’s me, Mikan, don’t panic...! You’re safe...”

Mahiru’s breathing evened itself, but it still sounded shallow, still weak. “Mikan... why...?”

Why? What was she talking about? Hiyoko’s disappearance? “What? What is it Mahiru? Please t-tell me, and I’ll t-try to help. Are you in pain...?”

“Why... does he... come at night...? Why does he stand... right there...? Why me...?” Mahiru’s eyes had shot open, darting between the end of her bed and the window. Her answer sounded like a nightmare, and Mikan could only attribute that to deliriousness, or just a general tiredness.

“M-Mahiru, it’s okay... there’s no one here but me. I closed your window for you, i-it should help you warm up. I th-thought you were sensible enough to not open the window if you c-couldn’t c-close it...”

“I didn’t open it... h-he did...” Mikan failed to contain her gulp. Even if Mahiru was simply rambling her dreams out whilst she was still woozy, they were starting to scare her... a lot. 

Maybe it was the room? Maybe she should move Mahiru to somewhere better for her mental state... anywhere but here. But could she leave while Mahiru was like this? Obviously not... 

Thankfully she had her phone on her. She gave Ibuki a call, but it was early enough in the morning that she couldn’t be sure that she’d be up. “Please pick up... please...”

“Gooooooood nom-nom-nomming Mikaaaaan! What can Ibuki do for ya?”

Oh thank god! “Ibuki, c-can you please c-come to Mahiru’s room? R-right away? A-and p-please could you bring a warm coat with you?”

“Did you set it up Kyoko?”

“Mm hmm... I do wonder if this will work though.”

“I’m sure it will... y-your hunches are rarely wrong.” There was a twinge of sadness in Shuichi’s voice as he said that, but it was mostly clouded by his admiration for Kyoko. 

Something was wrong with Kyoko though. She didn’t seem as excited about her theory as he imagined she would have been. This was big, her hunch could lead them right to their culprit. And yet... well, he had a feeling he knew why Kyoko wasn’t so gung-ho about her own plan. It was made even more obvious when she began to change the subject. “You know, I was rather impressed with you yesterday Shuichi. I hadn’t expected you to run that blood analysis all by yourself.”

“Ah, well, it wasn’t much. I just collected a hair from Hiyoko’s room, and compared the DNA in it to the blood. With a little help from her school medical records, it was simple really, anyone could’ve done it.”

“I’m not so sure.” Kyoko smiled, though, for once, it wasn’t for herself. She was smiling at Shuichi. “Do you enjoy the sciences, Shuichi?”

Shuichi felt his face ignite, but he didn’t pull his hat down. “A-a bit. It started with just an internet in poisons, f-for detective purposes, which also meant that I had to do a lot of research into antidotes and how they worked. It got me very familiar with both the human body and chemical reactions. S-sorry, I doubt you’re really interested in the why of my interest...”

“No, it’s a good thing. I’m glad to hear that there is something outside of work that you enjoy. Even if it is heavily linked to your work.”

This... this had to have been the most personable Kyoko had ever been with him! When she complimented him he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. “I-I umm... uhh... d-do you have a love outside of your work too Kyoko?”

Shuichi didn’t fail to notice the tension that had suddenly formed in the air. However, it wasn’t aimed at him, even if he had lured it out. Kyoko was having... self doubt? Self conflict? “I’m not so sure I do, no. I can be very obsessive with my detective work. It doesn’t leave much time for other things.”

He shouldn’t... he shouldn’t say it... but he did... “D-do you... wish you had time for... him...?”

Kyoko may have raised an eyebrow, but Shuichi knew she knew who he was talking about. The passive aggressive silence they found themselves in knew it too. 

JUSTICE PATROL Group Chat!!!!  
Makoto: GUYS!!!!!! BIG NEWS!!!!!!

Tenko: dont cal me guy

Makoto: Kyoko told me that sum1 else has gon missing!!! Should we check the NWP 2nite??

Tenko: YESSSSS! 1st official mission for my Justice Patrol!!!!! C u 2 l8er!!!

Makoto: k, well meet at midnite! Remember to be prepared!

Hajime: Were you two seriously texting in class?

Hajime: You two didn’t even wait for my opinion!

Hajime: And you both type like heathens. 

Tenko: u wer 2 slo its happnin toooooooooonight!

Makoto: ...srry

Just as promised, when midnight rolled around, all three met up in the tech lab. Before they went into the NWP though, there was some light discussion to be had, or at least a discussion Hajime wanted to try to have. “Makoto, did Kyoko tell you anything specific? Other than that someone has gone missing. Anything at all might be helpful while we’re searching for them in there.”

“Ah, let me think... She didn’t say much, but I think I remember her saying that our victim is a female third year from the Main Course. She didn’t tell me who it was though...”

Damnit... Hajime had to wonder if their missing person was that third year who was supposedly helping the NWP team. After all that had happened over the weekend, he hadn’t had a chance to really speak with Sonia about them. Whatever, it was only a thought, there was no evidence behind his worries. 

Makoto’s comment certainly caught Tenko’s attention; she flared to life in an instant. “Standing around here isn’t gonna find this girl any faster, is it?! Do your thinkin’ while you’re runnin’ boys! We’ve got a girl to save! We can’t let an upperclassman down!” Without waiting for them, Tenko ran over to the entry point, diving through.

Hajime rolled his eyes, as Makoto chuckled to himself. “She’s got way too much energy...” Hajime grumbled as he too prepared to go through. 

“Heh-heh, I think it’s a good thing, at least one of us has to be a doer.” Makoto always had a defence for her, huh?

All three arrived at the same location: just outside of the cottage area. According to Tenko, that time she’d come in alone, she was dropped off here as well. Wasn’t this the first time that they’d started in the same place twice in a row then? It might have been a coincidence, there likely wasn’t any meaning specifically behind this, perhaps something in the system was fixed, assuming anything was broken in the first place.

Tenko wasted no time before barking her orders. She really thought that she was the leader, didn’t she? “Okay team, I say we split up! Since another island has opened up, two of us should head there, and one of us should stay here. We should be able to find our target if we do that. When we’ve scoped out the islands, we’ll meet back on the central one, in the park.”

Hajime was quick to attack Tenko’s misguided plan. “Hey, didn’t you say that there was another one of those big Shadows around? Isn’t splitting up, I dunno, a really bad idea?”

With a small gasp as Tenko’s only response, Makoto again jumped to her defence. “Ideally, we should all stick together. But with the islands opening up, there’s too much space to cover in an orderly amount of time. Who knows what danger this girl might be in, so we need to move efficiently, rather than doing whatever might be the most safe. Look, I’ll go by myself. With my Persona, I can heal myself just fine, so I’ll be my own support. You two... I know you argue a lot, but you have each other’s backs when it counts, right? And if I’m lucky, maybe I’ll run into Usami. Then we’ll all be in parties of two. Is that okay?”

It didn’t really sit right with him, but Hajime knew Makoto had a point. “... okay. Just... stay safe Makoto.” Resolutely nodding, Makoto turned, and ran off to explore the first island. That left him and Tenko...

“Let’s go Hajime! We’ve wasted enough time already!” Hajime had no choice but to sprint after Tenko when she took off, however, there was an undeniable fear brewing inside of him. Beyond the simple fear of that they might already be too late, he feared what else they could encounter on their way around the islands... and want Makoto might find too...

Without a hitch, Hajime and Tenko arrived on the unexplored second island. Of course, since it was unexplored, neither knew where exactly would be a good place to start looking...

“Hey,” Tenko pointed to what looked like a small restaurant or diner not too far away from them. “Why don’t we start there? Any place that might have food seems like a logical spot for a person to go to.”

She made a good point, but what were the chances that the girl was still in there, if she’d even been in there in the first place? So he let Tenko be the one to scope out the inside, while he stood ‘on guard’ outside, just in case she ran past or something. 

Hajime could see Tenko through the windows of the diner, she was tearing through the place. She looked... desperate. His mind was forcibly cast back to the last time he saw Tenko... how distraught she’d been over her ‘heroism’... the way she’d framed it at the time, Hajime had thought that it was really all down to how she presented herself to others- she wanted to be a hero in the eyes of people around her. But watching how fervently she was searching this one place... more than anything else, it seemed like she wanted to be a hero for herself. Not in an egotistic way, just that she wanted to do the right thing because it was the right thing, not to make herself look better for other people. And based on his other conversations with her, she probably wanted to be a hero for some kind of repentance.

Tenko soon stormed out of the diner in a huff. “Nothing... it didn’t even look like anything had been touched. Ugh, let’s... let’s go check out that place!” Once again, Tenko let her pointing be their guide, directing them to a small cove behind the diner. But before they headed off...

“Tenko... are you okay? After what happened on Friday, I mean. You took whatever happened pretty hard...”

Immediately, Tenko’s bravado collapsed, her gaze falling to the floor. “... yeah, I did take it hard... it doesn’t matter now though. It’s just another thing to make me try even harder to achieve my goals... my dreams...” Raising her head, Tenko’s smile appeared distant, sad... a little fake. “Besides, everyone has to encounter bumps in their path sometimes... you just can’t let them set you back.”

She didn’t look at Hajime after that, she just marched on. Her words themselves had been encouraging, but her tone matched her somber smile. 

In the cove, there was a fairly large beach house, and behind that there was a small beach. Tenko had decided that she’d investigate the beach house, and Hajime could check the beach, but he was sure that she just wanted to be alone for a bit. The beach was practically empty; at least Hajime could spend some time thinking himself. At least, that’s what he’d expected at first. Because that was when he saw her. 

Confusingly though, this couldn’t have been their target. The girl standing knee deep in the sea was tiny, she couldn’t have been a third year student. Still, who was she then? Another victim? If that was the case, they needed to rescue her as well. “H-hey, uh, Miss! Are you okay? I’m here to rescue you!” It felt a little self indulgent to say all that, but he wasn’t so sure how to call out to her otherwise. 

The small girl turned around, a chirpy smile on her very tanned face. As she skipped on over to him, Hajime only became more confused as he got a closer look at the girl. For someone so short, her hair was very long, mostly blonde with a few streaks of blue and purple mixed in. Around her sparkly yellow eyes was... glitter? And some of those sticky sequins used by children for art. Was this girl just a child? She looked like one... but how would she have ended up in here? And he’d never seen a child who looked quite as out-there as this one. Sure, the white sleeveless shirt and strawberry pink shorts weren’t that weird, but everything else about her appearance was outlandish. “Hello Mister. Did you say you’re here to rescue me?” Her voice was just as bright as her appearance... 

“Uh, yeah. Me and some friends are here trying to find a student who went missing. She’s a third year student at Hope’s Peak Academy. Have you-“

“Have I seen her? Of course, because that’s me!” ...what? This girl was... their missing upperclassman? But she... she was so young! Or... looked so young. And Hajime was sure he’d recognise someone who looked like this, regardless of if he knew them personally or not- there was no way he’d have overlooked them whenever he was in the Main building corridors. “I’m in Class 77. Hiyoko Saionji. A pleasure to meet you Mister.” No way... she couldn’t be...

“Hajime! Why didn’t you tell me that you found her?!” Tenko had come around the side of the beach house, running over to join the two of them. “Don’t worry about this brute, I’m sure he was about to really upset you. My name is Tenko, and we’re here to help you, okay? Just come with us, we’re going to meet up with another friend before we get out of here.” Tenko didn’t seem to suspect anything was weird... so maybe he was just being paranoid. 

“Oh, it’s no problem Ms. Tenko. I’m excited to finally get out of here.” That comment seemed to catch Tenko’s attention. Not because it was an odd thing to hear, but because this girl held no trace of fear in her voice. Light, airy, and carefree. 

“Y-yeah! Alright Hajime, let’s get back to Makoto. Come on.” Hiyoko grabbed Tenko’s hand when they started to walk away; Hajime couldn’t fail to notice how flustered Tenko suddenly became because of that. 

“Ms. Tenko? Why does that boy have a pink baseball bat?” Hiyoko had asked a number of childishly innocent questions in the short time it took them to make it back to the main path outside the diner. And Hajime had to admit, he was impressed with how tactfully Tenko answered them all. He’d never taken Tenko to be the motherly type... ah, wait, this girl was at least two years older than Tenko, wasn’t she?

But before Tenko could give a response to that last question, a loud crashing noise diverted all of their attention to one of the nearby buildings, as a... tiny blonde girl... came stumbling out, her arms filled with bandage wrappings and bottles of medicine. “T-Tenko... do you think that’s Hiyoko’s Shadow...?”

Tenko looked back at Hajime, confused. “What? No chance. These two look nothing alike. I’ll bet that someone else got put in here, and no one had figured that out yet. Come on, let’s go grab her and bring her with us.”

Hajime could not possibly begin to articulate just how dumb of an idea that was, or how much of an idiot Tenko was being. But it wasn’t as if he hadn’t had a similar thought a few moments prior... She ran off before he could try to stop her though, so he hurried after her as she called out to the other girl, dragging Hiyoko behind her. 

That other girl froze in shock, or maybe it was fear, as Tenko charged at her. “Hey! Don’t worry little lady, we’re here to rescue you! Ha-ha, you’re real lucky, we had no idea two people had been thrown in here. Come with us, we can get you out of here.”

The girl pulled a face of disgust, and as Hajime grew closer he could see that it was directed at Hiyoko. “Eww, what the hell?! I-is that supposed to be me? I look like an even trashier Ibuki... but, like, also a knockoff. And who the fuck are you two?”

Wait... hang on... had they really...? Hiyoko began to giggle, and Tenko nervously let go of her hand, backing away. “Aww, you are so rude Hiyoko. Haven’t you always been told that it’s a bad habit? It really doesn’t fit your image.” Damn it, they had! They’d mistaken Hiyoko’s Shadow for the real thing!

Thanks to Tenko’s hastiness, the Shadow had been put into a perfect position to worm its way between all three of them. Hajime wanted to run to Hiyoko to protect her, but he wasn’t sure if that would anger the Shadow, or cause it to lash out. So far, Shadow’s had only transformed after their spiels, but could they do so before doing all that? He wasn’t ready to find that out, and he signalled to Tenko for her to not advance either. 

“Ugh, shut up, you sound like my grandma. There’s no way you’re me, I would never say something as dumb as that.”

Again, Hiyoko’s Shadow giggled. The childish laughter was intensely creepy, considering what Hajime knew would likely end up happening here. “Wow, you’re really that in denial? Come on Hiyoko, you were bred with the family legacy in mind, you can’t disregard it that easily! But I guess that was your rebellion, huh? You couldn’t change your appearance to match how you felt, so you changed your attitude, isn’t that right?”

Hiyoko clutched those medical supplies to her chest as her Shadow taunted her with a laugh that was much more condescending. “Sh-shut up...! What are you trying to say, that if I could I’d choose to look like you? You look like a shitty wig that crawled out of a pile of shit!”

The Shadow pretended to gasp in offence. “Hiyoko! You can’t say that! Someone might think you’re racist! But you have to admit, I look great, don’t I? You though... ugh, so traditional. So boring. Who even cares about all that traditional stuff anyway? We were forced into that stuff, and we hate it, don’t we? That stuffy traditional dancing wouldn’t even be that bad if it wasn’t just old geezers who watched it. Because we both know whose eyes you really want on you, don’t we?” The Shadow slid as close as it could to Hiyoko, their noses practically touching. Hiyoko was shaking slightly, the things in her arms gradually tumbling to the floor, worsened by the Shadow pressing itself closer to her. Great, they’d waited too long, they couldn’t go and attack now, that would be way too dangerous. “We really wanted to rebel in every way, huh? Not even our girl choice was traditional. Good thing those thoughts weren’t materialised though, imagine how badly your pristine reputation would be tarnished if people knew about those very unladylike thoughts you have. Hee-hee, your mind is as foul as your mouth, huh? What would Mahi-“ Hiyoko lunged at her Shadow, her small hands wrapping around its throat as she pushed it to the ground. And yet, even then, it’s voice flowed unrestricted. “What’s with that reaction? What did you think I was going to say? Ooooohhhh, you thought I was going to say something dirty, didn’t you? Silly, that wasn’t what I was thinking at all. I was talking about that other thing about Mahiru. Aaaaaallllll about just how selfish you are.”

“Shut up... SHUT UP!” Hiyoko was on the verge of tears. Very angry, bitter tears. 

The Shadow obviously didn’t stop. “You’ve been trying so hard to get Mahiru to leave her room. But it was never about her, was it? It was never about making Mahiru better. It was all about you. YOU wanted to be the inspirational one for once, YOU wanted to be the one everyone admired for accomplishing the impossible. YOU wanted to defy all the expectations your friends had of you. After all, who would expect the foul mouthed bitch to be able to help anyone but herself?! But you couldn’t even manage to help Mahiru, could you? Just like everything else you do- it was a total failure!”

With inhuman strength, the Shadow shoved its feet into Hiyoko’s gut, and flipped her over its head onto the ground. Tenko darted forward, to drag her away from the Shadow who was undoubtably about to change into some new form. Sure enough, the Shadow exploded with its usual goo, and Tenko luckily got herself and Hiyoko to safety before it could do either of them any harm. 

Hajime brandished his bat, ready to go on the defensive, but when the goop cleared, all that remained was a... wooden marionette? It kinda... vaguely looked like Hiyoko... at least, it was wearing a similar kimono. “What? Is that it?” Tenko was just as surprised as he was, though neither let down their guard. 

“Uh... should we just attack that thing, or-“ A ring of large metal poles suddenly rose from the ground, arching towards their peak. It took just a second too long for Hajime and Tenko to realise that what was forming around them was a cage for them to escape it, and the newly formed bars were packed too densely for them to squeeze out. Hiyoko was stuck outside, which should have meant that she was safe, but...

Hajime and Tenko spun upon hearing her scream. Outside of the cage was some sort of purple imp... thing. It was barely taller than Hiyoko, and with all its wrinkles it looked pretty old. Still, it easily tossed Hiyoko onto its shoulder, and began to climb the cage, and that’s when they noticed the other creature atop the towering cage as well. It was near enough identical, just a little more youthful in appearance. This one bore strings on its fingers... when it raised its hand, the marionette swung towards Hajime and Tenko, both of whom easily dodged the slow sweep. 

“Hajime, what do we do? We need to help Hiyoko but... how? We’re stuck in here!” It’s true, they were... this cage was built like an arena, or perhaps a colosseum; those imps made for ill fitting emperors. 

“Tenko, do you have your phone on you?”

“... does it look like this outfit has pockets to you?”

“Oh come on, aren’t you wearing three shirts? I get that your skirt isn’t going to have one, but your school jacket doesn’t even have pockets?”

“Uh, no... yeah...? Shut up! Don’t you have your phone then, smart guy?”

“... that’s-“ The ground beneath their feet suddenly felt very warm... very very warm... Tenko leapt towards Hajime, pushing him out of the way as a column of blazing embers erupted from where they had been standing. Looking up, they realised that the marionette’s eyes were glowing a menacing red... and was slowly shifting to a deep blue, the new area they were standing in dropping in temperature rapidly. Tenko flipped out of the way, and Hajime (less impressively) rolled out of the danger zone, a block of ice replacing the ground they’d occupied a breath ago. “Instead of bickering, let’s try fighting. You ready? You fight head on, I’ll try and figure out how to either get us out, or knock those imps out.”

“Oh, uh, actually... I-I have a really low pain tolerance, so...”

“...”

“...”

“Fine, I’ll defend you, you take shots at that doll. The imps aren’t a threat yet, so we’ll take this slowly.”

“Take it slowly?! Fuck off with that bullshit!” Hiyoko’s screams from above reignited their sense of urgency, but they didn’t really have a choice here. 

Hajime took a defensive stance in front of Tenko, Herakles taking position by his side, as Tenko prepared Eros to begin taking shots at the marionette. 

“... where are they? They should be back by now...”

“Should we go and look for them Makoto?”

“No Usami... we promised to meet here, so I’ll stay, the new island might just be really big, and is just keeping them preoccupied...” There was no doubt that Makoto was anxious. He knew that there was a good chance the real thing keeping them occupied was- no, stop, it’s fine. They’re fine. 

A pillar of flame shot up from over the line of trees around the park. It came from the second island. “Waaaaaaah! M-Makoto! What was that?!”

“... let’s go. Hajime and Tenko might need our help.”

“Right!”

Before the pair had even entered the island, they could see the top of something metal near the middle of the island, and two things were on top of it. They’d have to get closer to see it all more clearly. 

When they did arrive, Makoto cried out to the two trapped inside the cage. “Guys! I’m here! I’ll get you out! Usami’s with me as well!”

Tenko ran to the edge of the cage closest to Makoto as Hajime and Herakles protected her from being hit by a block of ice that had been launched at her from something in the cage. “Makoto! I dunno if you’ll be able to get in, but if we beat this Shadow then we can probably get out. We can’t really do anything about them, so can you and Usami attack those things up top? Be careful though, they’ve got Hiyoko up there, the girl we’re here to rescue.” Just as Tenko finished, Hajime was thrown back, colliding with her and causing her face to smash against the bars. “Ouch! Hajime, what-?”

“Leave Makoto to it and start running!” Hajime dove to the ground, and Tenko ducked, just in time for a ball of fire to explode against the cage bars, little embers spitting into Makoto’s hair. With a few whacks of her wand (and a lot of jumps to get the height right) Usami extinguished any of the flaming threats to his hair in no time. 

“That’s all well and good, but how can we get up there?” Makoto mumbled to himself, stepping back to get a good view of the entire cage. It might be possible to climb it, but that sounded dangerous at best...

“Makoto! Use your Persona!” Usami excitedly hopped from foot to foot. “That attack of yours that uses the boxing glove is spring-loaded, isn’t it? If I stand on top of Pandora, and you use that move, I’m sure I’ll be able to fly on up there!” Makoto was sure Usami already knew how ridiculous that sounded, but he didn’t really have much of a choice. If there was even a slight chance this would work...

“If you’re okay with that... we’re going to need a really lucky punch Pandora!” Usami jumped into the air, Pandora materialising beneath her. At the height of her jump, the glove burst free from Pandora’s chest, rocketing Usami towards the top of the cage. It had definitely worked, maybe even too well. Usami had traveled so fast that when she actually landed she was dazed, only able to find her footing because one of her tiny feet got stuck between two of the bars. 

Wait... that wasn’t good! Usami was stuck, she’d need help to get out, not to mention that she’d probably need help in beating the creatures up top without endangering Hiyoko. Letting out a nervous sigh, he climbed up onto Pandora. “Okay... phew... okay, okay... one more time Pandora!” The tremendous force behind the punch Makoto felt beneath him was enough to disorient him, though whether it was because he was moving slower than Usami or out of dumb luck, he managed to ‘land’ towards the top of the cage, even if he could already feel his hands blistering from how tightly he had to hold onto the bars to help him climb up to Usami. 

It was then that Makoto realised that the imps that were also on top of the cage with them weren’t trying to harm them. Or, more accurately, they couldn’t. They had no form of attacks to call their own it would seem. “... which means if we can defeat the one controlling the marionette, Hajime and Tenko will be completely safe!”

The curved nature of the top of the cage all but ensured that Makoto would be unable to engage in any hand to hand combat, his hands would be busy helping him to not fall... and considering the height of the cage, that was not a fall he fancied taking. Usami might even struggle to get close without help, which meant that this was probably up to Pandora. 

“Ah! Hey, watch it, freak!” The imp that has been carrying Hiyoko had positioned itself between the other imp, and himself and Usami. Oh, of course, it was using Hiyoko as a human shield, essentially. Smart, with their limited manoeuvrability, it would be tricky to get past them to attack the imp they should have been. 

“Makoto... I have an idea. That thing has positioned itself directly in front of the other one, right? So if I charge right into it at full speed, we might be able to knock both of them off in one go!”

“But what about Hiyoko? She’ll fall too, won’t she?”

“That’s why you’re going to catch her!”

“... what?!” Makoto was stunned. How could Usami possibly expect him to manage that? And even if he did, there was no way he could survive that fall!

She apparently picked up in his apprehension right away, proceeding to gleefully explain the final step of her plan. “You do party buffs, don’t you? Buff your defence now, so you’ll take less fall damage!” How was that going to work?

“Usami, I don’t think-“ A pillar of flame tore through some bars near them, accompanied by a pained cry that must’ve belonged to Hajime. Damn it, they’d been screwing around for too long, the enemy had finally gotten through Hajime’s defences. “Fine, we’re out of options, let’s go Usami...” 

Oh, he was so gonna die today...

While he concentrated Pandora’s power onto himself, Usami began jogging on the spot, lowering her head, before blasting forward with such speed that he was sure he’d seen a rainbow left in her wake. Her soft head collided with the chest of the imp carrying Hiyoko, all three tumbling backwards, careening into the imp guiding the marionette. Makoto would have celebrated watching the strings fall limply into the cage, but Hiyoko’s screams of terror as she fell from the cage along with the other three was the only thing he could keep his focus on. “Please please please... I’ve only had good luck today... don’t break that chain now...!” Shakily standing atop the cage, Makoto dove off, head first, after Hiyoko. 

There was a huge problem though... even though he was heading towards Hiyoko, there was no way he’d get to her before the ground did. What could he do? There had to be a way for both of them to get out of this alive...

As if his heart had heard his internal question, he felt Pandora once more materialise behind him... only for the wind to get knocked right out of his lungs as he was punched in the back. He felt like he was about to vomit, as he began to spin rapidly through the air, but it had pushed him all the way to Hiyoko at least. 

Colliding with her in the air must’ve hurt the both of them (Makoto certainly felt it when her elbow was jabbed into his ribs), but Makoto managed to wrap himself around Hiyoko because of it, at the very least protecting her when they crashed into the ground. Makoto wasn’t sure if it was better that he’d hit the ground at an angle rather than head on; he didn’t abruptly stop when his body hit the floor, instead he began to roll, but the sickening crunch he heard when his shoulder made impact with the earth couldn’t have been good. 

At least... he saw Hiyoko stand up... that was... good. 

The marionette clattered to the ground with a hollow ‘thunk’, laying entirely motionless on the ground in the cage. 

Tenko cracked her knuckles as she advanced upon the lifeless doll, a menacing grin-glare combination erupting over her face. “Oh-ho-hooooo, this is gonna be satisfying!” Lifting the puppet up by one of its legs, Tenko began swinging the thing around her, repeatedly slamming it onto the ground, splinters of wood flying from its body. Yet another reminder for Hajime to never get on Tenko’s bad side...

When Tenko had decided she’d had her fun, she called out to Hajime as she began to spin the marionette around her head. “Hey Hajime! Get ready, I’m gonna throw you a fast ball! Ready...? Batta’ batta’ swing!”

His ‘bat’ in hand, Hajime reared it back, and swung at the doll with all the force he could muster whilst still injured, tearing through its chest as its head and legs dropped to the floor, pieces of fabric floating down to join them. 

Just outside of the cage, Usami was standing triumphantly atop the two imps. In a puff of spoke however, she dropped to the floor, the bars of the cage also starting to recede into the ground, just as they had risen. There wasn’t time for a joyful reunion yet though. Makoto was lying on the ground. He wasn’t getting up. 

Hiyoko was standing over him, her small shoulders trembling. The elation of victory faded instantly from Hajime’s system as he ran for Makoto’s body. “Makoto! ... M-Makoto? Is...?”

Usami waddled over, her voice soothing and reassuring. “Don’t worry Hajime. He’s fine, just out cold. He’s very lucky though, if he hadn’t raised his defence, he would be completely out of HP. He’d definitely be a goner without that buff!”

“... what the fuck? How can you speak about death so lightly? What’s wrong with you?!” Hiyoko gave Usami a firm kick, her face angrily flushed. Hajime would’ve spoken against the undue violence, but he was sure she was just rattled. He’d seen Makoto save her... she must’ve felt at least partially responsible for what happened; she obviously wouldn’t want to be the reason someone died. 

But Makoto was going to be okay. He just needed some rest. Hajime picked his friend up by the shoulder, just as he had many other times, as Tenko jogged over to them. “Hey... Hajime. Isn’t it about time for...” She nodded towards Hiyoko. Right... she’d need to confront her Shadow. 

As if on cue, Hiyoko’s Shadow ascended from the ground, forming once again before Hiyoko. “What?! I thought you-?”

Tenko laid a supportive hand on Hiyoko’s shoulder. “It’s almost done. But it is your Shadow. You have to finish this. It might be hard but... you have to accept that this Shadow is a part of you. That it was born from your own emotions.”

There was a good few seconds where Hiyoko stood silently. Staring down her Shadow. “... well? What the fuck do you want me to say? You want me to accept you? Accept this gross thing as me?”

“Ah, Hiyoko, don’t-“ Hajime called out, by Hiyoko was quick to silence him. 

“Shut up! I’m not done! Geez... ugh, where do I start? You really tore into me... but you aren’t wrong, entirely anyway. I have always felt like my life wasn’t my own, someone was always pulling me in some direction. And yeah, I never really did anything about it. I always thought that my only option was to just take out my frustration on other people, t-to make them feel exactly what I would feel everyday! To be told that you aren’t even worth the dirt you stand on... you know what, I’m even a little envious of you. I... I wish I could have rebelled against my upbringing. Against the stupid traditions that made me like I am. I don’t have the courage for that though. So... you were also right that I really wanted to help Mahiru for my own sake. If I could do something that no one else could, that would prove that I’m special to everyone, that I’m not just a coward... that I’m worth the two shits Mahiru gives about me! My family has only ever seen me as another Saionji, another girl in the family line... but Mahiru was the first friend I ever had that didn’t care about that shit. At first, it kind of hurt to have someone so easily see through me, to just know why I behaved like I did and... and know what to do to give me comfort. You’re only a part of me, right? No wonder you don’t get the whole picture... I don’t fully understand myself, but you don’t understand me either. If you were all of me, you’d know that my dumb selfishness wasn’t the only reason I had for wanting to help Mahiru. Deep down... we both should know that I love her more than anyone else... she’s everything that I wish I’d had growing up... she’s special to me... w-way more special than any tradition...” Hiyoko’s shoulders shook as she began to weep. It seemed like that was a lot to get off of her chest. 

Her Shadow seemed satisfied as well, fading away in the usual pale blue light. Tenko was by Hiyoko’s side just before she collapsed, cradling her in her arms as she lifted Hiyoko up. “Well... I’d say that was a successful mission, right Hajime?”

Tenko beamed brightly, but Hajime could only roll his eyes. “Yeah, Makoto only nearly got himself killed... thanks for the help Usami, we couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Oh, stop it. You’ll make me blush.”

How would that even work? “Heh-heh...” he laughed dryly. “Uhh... anyway, let’s go Tenko, these two need to rest up.”

She was cold. She was tired. Her whole body was sore. But Mahiru didn’t care. Mikan’s panicked wailing might have been her fault; she’d make it up to her later. There were more important things than her own health right now. 

However, when she got to the stairs, she froze. She could vividly imagine herself tumbling down them because her leg gave out. She’d take them slowly... that’s all she had to do...

She’d made it all the way down to the dorm lounge before Mikan caught up, crying just as she’d left her. “M-Mahiru! Y-you can’t just get up and leave!” Ibuki was with her as well; as far as Mahiru was concerned she was just there to hold Mikan’s supplies, as well as the powerful lantern that served as the only light source in the lounge. “P-please, just come with me back to your room for the night... y-y-you need to rest...!”

Mahiru wasn’t looking at her. She was staring out through the glass doors of the entrance to the dorms, deep into the pitch blackness of night that lay behind. “But... Hiyoko... she’s out there...”

“Huuuuuuh? Are you crazy? Even Ibuki wouldn’t go out at night lookin’ for her! That’d be like walking into a lions den wearing a steak bikini!”

Mikan hurriedly hushed Ibuki, likely in an attempt to keep further stupidity from tumbling out of her mouth. “M-Mahiru... I k-know you want to help... b-but you can’t do that in your state... We can’t help Hiyoko right now, that’s for the police, but I can h-help you! And that’s what I want to do... please let me...”

Looking out into the night again, Mahiru shivered. She wasn’t cold, even if she was only wearing her night gown, she just... felt bad. Maybe if she hadn’t locked herself away, Hiyoko would still be here...

Mikan must’ve seen her knees begin to buckle, because Mahiru never hit the floor. Mikan was holding her steady, and guided her to one of the chairs in the room with them. “I-Ibuki... can you please get some water for Mahiru?”

Why was this happening? First Sato, now Hiyoko... no matter how dependable people thought she was, she was never there when she was really needed.

“Hey, Makoto, take it easy. Don’t rush yourself. You gave us all a real scare there, even Hiyoko.” When Makoto had finally woken up, Hajime and Tenko we’re hovering over him, with Hiyoko minding herself a few steps back. 

Hajime offered out a hand to Makoto, but the second he moved to take it he recoiled in agony. “Oww! Ahhh... m-my arm...”

“Huh? Makoto, what’s wrong?” Hajime pulled his arm back, an instinctive reflex upon realising he’d hurt Makoto. 

“I... I dunno... before I passed out... my whole body felt pretty bad... but now it’s just my arm... and shoulder.”

“... hey. I know a nurse. If we take you back to the dorms, I’m sure she’ll take a look. She might not be up, but I can easily fix that.” Three pairs of eyes fell on Hiyoko, and she intently shied away from their gazes, looking up at nothing. “What? Did I say something weird, or you all just dumbasses who’ve never heard of a nurse?”

Tenko smiled at Hiyoko. A type of smile she never gave Hajime or Makoto. “No, it’s just that that’s really sweet of you Hiyoko. You’re so considerate!”

“H-huh? No I’m not!” She looked mortified for being called considerate... what a weird girl...

Hajime noticed that Tenko was now looking at him, tilting her head towards Hiyoko expectantly. Oh... did she mean...? “... fine. As long as it’s her choice.”

“Uh, what? Wh-what you gonna do to me...?”

Quick to ease her fears, Tenko waved down Hiyoko’s anxieties. “Don’t worry we aren’t gonna do anything. I just wanted to ask if you’d like to join our team.”

“I... what? Your... team?”

“Yeah. You aren’t the first person to be put in that place, and we figure you probably won’t be the last. So us three formed a team to save anyone who gets put in. We’ve all faced our Shadows too, so... would you like to join us? Uh, don’t feel pressured to answer now. If you’d like, just sleep on it, we can all meet up tomorrow after school. We usually meet at a little cafe downtown. If you give me your number, I’ll text you the actual address.” Hiyoko nodded, silently agreeing. “Alright! I know I pretty much said it already, but I think this is a mission accomplished, right guys?”

She stuck her hand out, as if Hajime and Makoto would do that thing where they do three cheers or whatever, but she quickly pulled back after remembering about Makoto’s arm. 

They’d rescued another person, huh? And they’d all worked pretty well as a team, Usami included. And who knows, they might even have another member by their next outing. In an almost twisted irony, considering why they were doing this, the future seemed bright for the team. And Hajime honestly hoped things would only get better. 

‘You feel like your bond with your friends has grown deeper...’

The Tenko’s Justice Patrol Social Link has reached Rank 2. 

Damn did that name need to change though...

Walking back to the dorms in total darkness filled Hiyoko with a dread unlike any she’d ever felt before. Even with Tenko and Makoto with her, it only reminded her of... of that night... of how scared she’d been...

Even just seeing the dorms didn’t help, considering that that was where she’d been attacked. Bizarrely though... there was a dim light coming from the entry way... like someone had turned on a bedroom night light in there. Her blood ran cold at the thought that someone might have been waiting in there... waiting to ambush them... 

When she walked into the lounge with the other two, all her fears of an attack vanished. An emotion unknown to her bubbled up from within when she locked eyes with Mahiru. What... what was going on?

She could vaguely register Tenko and Makoto walking over to Mikan, but that was only out of the corner of her widened eyes. 

Mahiru had shuffled over to her, and sunk to her knees, sitting just under Hiyoko’s eye level. “M... Mahi-“

Desperate arms grabbed Hiyoko, pulling her into the tightest, most loving, most fearful hug she’d ever received. The arms held tight around her were as cold as death, but that didn’t matter. Those arms... they were Mahiru’s arms. They were... Mahiru was... “I’m so sorry... I’m so sorry...” Mahiru repeated those words over and over again into Hiyoko’s shoulder. 

“Mahiru... Ma... Ma... Maaaa...aa...a...” Hiyoko’s words choked in her throat as the floodgates opened, washing Mahiru’s nightgown in her tears. Tears of joy and relief. “I-I... muh-mmm... mis-missed y-yooouuu, s-s-so muuuuuccchhhh!” Hiyoko found her own arms desperately trying to wrap around Mahiru’s body, trying to hold her close... so close... close enough that she’d never leave again. 

That embrace could have lasted forever and it still would have ended too soon. Then again, when Mahiru pulled back, and... and smiled at her... Hiyoko wanted to burst into tears all over again. She couldn’t smile herself, her jaw was too busy quivering, tears still rolling down her cheeks. 

Cold fingers cupped those tear stained cheeks, thumbs brushing away any that continued to fall. That smile of Mahiru’s... Hiyoko never wanted to lose it again. It was a smile she wanted to see everyday, one that filled her with an untold amount of joy.

It was perfect. 

This wasn’t a dream either, was it?

Hiyoko sincerely hoped it wasn’t. To return from one of the scariest experiences of her life to find Mahiru waiting for her... if this was all a dream, it would’ve been a cruel joke.

Then again... maybe by tomorrow she’d wish at least some of this was a dream. She couldn’t tell if she’d wake up later to regret pressing her lips against Mahiru’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone who has read this far into this story- thank you so much. I’ve received a crap ton of support for this work, especially considering that I was certain I’d really only be writing this for myself, and my own enjoyment of it. Reading that other people are also enjoying my story though is an indescribable feeling. I know it’s a bit mushy to say, but it really does mean a lot that people enjoy this. And having said that, I’m going to be taking a short break from this story now. Not the normal ‘short’ break that creators take, this one will only be a week of no posts, but please understand that even though I don’t post everyday, I do spend a few hours everyday working on this story, and even though I love it, I need a break every now and then. So, for a week, no new Chapters. Next Sunday will be the next post. 
> 
> In the meantime, I’ll be adding some stuff to the preface page, just some in-depth looks into why I chose specific characters for specific Arcana, or why I chose certain Persona’s, stuff like that. 
> 
> Two final questions I’d like to ask my readers before I sign off. One; I’m not so sure how I should handle the relationships tags for this. I intended to just go with the ships that end up working out, but should I also add friendships too? Obviously I can’t put in every relationship, that would be ridiculous and probably false advertising for most of those relationships, so should I also add Hajime’s social links as platonic relationships, or just leave it at what I originally intended. And as for my second question; if you couldn’t tell, as I said, this fic is going to be looooooong. Like, I’ve written a month in universe and we’ve already hit 100000 words. So I’ve wondered if it might be better to split up the fic a bit, like, create a series with each fic basically being one arc of the story. I’d like to keep this as just one massive thing, but I also understand that seeing a 100000+ fic might be very daunting to newer readers. As I said, I plan on keeping it as one big thing, but I’d like to hear some other opinions on this. 
> 
> Anyway, that’s all, and thank you for your time!


	33. Chapter 31

Wednesday, May 8th

“Wakey-wakey sleepy head...!” Hiyoko instantly recognised the voice trying get her out of bed belonged to Ibuki... but why was she trying to wake her up? She wasn’t even being that loud either, her jolly sing-song voice was just really... annoying. How did she even get into her room?

She was struggling to remember what happened last night, after she came back to the dorms. Her head was throbbing and there was some kind of weight on her waist and back, not painful like her head, not at all, but its presence alone was abnormal. 

Hiyiko’s eyes shot open when Ibuki pressed one of her fingers against her head, a shot of pain running through her as a wound was prodded. “Oww! What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

Ibuki giggled as she stepped back, revealing that they weren’t alone in... hey, hang on, this wasn’t her room! “C’mon Hiyoko! We’ve gotta get to school! Pluuuuuusss, Mr. Detective wants to have a word with Mahiru.” The other person in the room with them was a boy, dressed mostly in black, with a cap covering his eyes. At least he had the dignity to not watch her while she was sleeping, even if he had barged into the room with Ibuki. 

However, Hiyoko didn’t really focus too much on him. No no, instead there was that part about Mahiru. It wasn’t until she heard a groggy groan behind her that Hiyoko realised where she was. And what that weight leaning against her actually was. 

Mahiru slowly sat up in her bed, the arm that had been around Hiyoko’s waist now rubbing sleep from her eyes. Hiyoko wasn’t so sure whether she should have felt ecstatic or completely mortified, but she felt her entire body stiffen. How had this happened? The last thing she remembered... the last... 

Hiyoko was sitting up as well now, her eyes fixated upon Mahiru’s face. On... on where she’d... Hiyoko desperately rolled out of the bed, the kimono she’d been wearing the past few days still loosely wrapped around her. “Y-yeah yeah whatever! Move it!” She pushed past Ibuki, who was obviously finding something very funny, just about containing her bellowing laughter. “I’m gonna get changed, so just... wait for me outside of my room.” Hiyoko stormed out in a huff, but she really just wanted to leave as fast as she could before anyone else could judge her. 

Why had she woken up in Mahiru’s bed? What dumbass thought that- 

The freshly wrapped bandages around her head gave her a good idea. “Ugh, that pig shit...! I can’t believe she wanted to humiliate me like that! I’ll... I’ll...!” Something was stopping her from being genuinely angry. Something about the pounding in her chest, and the heat of her face. “D-do I have a fever or something...? Wh-what’s wrong with me?” A small hand rested against her chest, feeling the pounding of her heart. Forget going to school right now, she was going to have a cold shower instead...

Ibuki had ran out of the room after Hiyoko, which meant that Shuichi was finally alone with Mahiru. “I-I’m sorry for such an early visit Ms. Koizumi. I need to talk to you about... some things.”

Mahiru didn’t openly object, but considering what he knew about her current condition, Shuichi highly doubted she was happy to be up so early talking to a stranger, especially about said condition. “I... o-okay. Who are you?”

“Hmm? Oh, sorry, my name is Shuichi Saihara. I’m a detective.” The way Mahiru’s face contorted in pain and fear, her eyes darting from him to her wall, told Shuichi that she had a good idea what he was investigating.

“Oh... but why do you want to talk to me? I don’t really have anything to do with the cases...”

Shuichi shook his head, vehemently. “No, I don’t believe that’s true.” Her head shakily snapped back to him, a new fear dulling her eyes. “Uh, sorry, I didn’t word that very clearly, did I? What I mean is... it’s my personal policy to never settle a case until all parties are satisfied and happy. In my eyes, you’re just as much a victim as... as the girls who... passed away.”

“Aren’t you a detective though? What good will it do you to sit and listen to my problems...?” Shuichi had been filled in by Mikan about Mahiru’s recent behaviour. In fact, it was Mikan who had alerted himself and Kyoko to the reappearance of Hiyoko, as well as Mahiru’s reemergence into the world. He wasn’t surprised that she didn’t see the value in her opinion, he knew she’d be experiencing a lot of self doubt right now. But that was something he’d need to push through if he wanted to get anywhere. 

“You’re right, I’m not a psychologist. Instead, I wanted to talk to you about some things that are a little more... tangible.” Shuichi walked over to Mahiru’s window, running a finger along the bottom of the window frame. “Sorry about this by the way. Your friend, Ms. Tsumiki, told me that you’ve been having a recurring nightmare. About a man at the end of your bed, correct?” Mahiru nodded, barely. “Well, I took a quick once over of your room when Ms. Mioda let me in with her. And I found some dents in your window frame. They don’t look like they could have possibly been made by the window itself, there’s only two small indents in the frame. Instead... I think someone from the outside attached something to your window. Something that would need to be clamped down... a ladder perhaps.”

Shuichi didn’t need to look at Mahiru to know that she was uncomfortable. He could feel her stress in the air, and her silence spoke volumes. “Ms. Koizumi... may I see your arms?” Mahiru quietly complied, removing her arms from her bed covers and offering them out to Shuichi. “I’m... sorry if this is an uncomfortable question but... did you do this yourself?”

“I’m... I don’t think so... I don’t remember doing it... more would appear on the nights I’d have those nightmares...” It was just as Shuichi thought. Those weren’t dreams at all. There really was someone who was breaking into her room at night. A man, by her own recollection. But why? And why had they done... this? What was the point? All of Mahiru’s wounds were shallow, it was unlikely many would draw significant blood. Logic would dictate that, in her isolation, this stranger should have just kidnapped her or something, but instead they left behind a small wounds...

“Hmm... thin and shallow... I can’t imagine much blood was ever drawn... these were expertly cut, surgically even... Ah! I’m sorry! I’m treating you like a piece of evidence...” Shuichi quickly pulled his hands away, which had found themselves gently holding Mahiru’s arms whilst he was inspecting them. 

Mahiru herself didn’t look to be in pain, but she had clearly been made even more uncomfortable. “If it’ll help you... I-I don’t mind...”

She was clearly lying through her teeth; it wasn’t as if Shuichi could blame her. If she was going to ignore his insensitivity though, he shouldn’t linger on it himself. “Hmm... thank you Ms. Koizumi. Again, I’m sorry for taking up your time when you should really be resting.”

“... you apologise too much.” Her voice was distant and forlorn, her eyes locked onto her window. 

It might not have been his place to say it, but... “Ms. Koizumi? I think it might be better for your health if we move you out of this room to get your rest. I-I’m sure Ms. Saionji wouldn’t mind if we moved you there, would she?” Mahiru finally looked back to him, the tiniest of smiles replacing her anxious frown. 

“For now... that might be for the best. I’ll talk to her about it after school.” He was glad she was willing to go along with it. As far as he was concerned, staying in here would be awful for her mental health... and potentially her physical health as well. 

“Okay. Ms. Tsumiki is busy right now, so I’ll help you move in. Hopefully we can catch your friends before they leave for school.” Mahiru began to stare again, this time at her closed door. She was muttering something, but he couldn’t hear what. “Uh, I’m sorry... what was that?”

“... nothing. I was just thinking, you’re a lot more reliable than you look...”

Shuichi laughed at the slightly backhanded compliment. “O-oh, I’m not so sure about th-that. I’m just doing my job is all...” His nervous smile felt forced, so there was no doubt Mahiru could see through it too. 

‘His job’, huh? For the first time, he’d been given the chance to help someone before it was too late... and it was a chance he wasn’t willing to waste. A plan was formulating in his mind, he knew what he had to do next. Despite that... he wondered if he’d be able to talk to Miu by himself...

Makoto hadn’t gotten much sleep all night. He’d been up while Mikan was helping tend to his wound. And now, he’d received an unexpected visit. From... Kyoko. “Good morning Kyoko. Heh, funny isn’t it, I can’t tell if breaking my writing arm the day before our exams is good or bad luck.” He’d attempted to open up the meeting with something light, but Kyoko’s scowl clearly indicated that she wasn’t having any of that. 

In fact, she looked far scarier than Makoto had ever seen her. Her scowl radiated anger and disappointment in equally copious bucketloads. “Ironic you should say that. I have a very funny story of my own. About how on the day I told you of Hiyoko Saionji’s disappearance, she just so happened to turn up, with you in tow. As well as the last person how vanished for a few days. And to think, I didn’t even tell you her name.”

Makoto’s heart sank in his chest. “I-I... I don’t-“

“Makoto.” Just uttering his name was enough to silence him. “Tell me, what are you hiding from me? How are you involved with the crimes that have been taking place within Hope’s Peak Academy?”

That cold voice... its icy daggers had never been pointed at him before. What could he tell her though? It was his own choice to hide the NWP from her; he’d brought this suspicion upon himself... but he couldn’t accept that he was in the wrong. He was protecting her... and saving lives! What he was doing wasn’t wrong... so it... it couldn’t be wrong to carry on keeping it from her. He was looking out for her after all, that wasn’t... “I... Kyoko... I’m not...” If he was really so just in his thinking, why couldn’t he say anything? He couldn’t even manage to defend himself...

Kyoko sighed. It was deep, heavy, and laden with that same disappointment that was in her glare. “Makoto... tell me. I don’t believe that you are the attacker, nor a killer, but for you to act so quickly and effectively, you must know something that I don’t. And I want you to tell me what that is. Please Makoto.”

Maybe he wasn’t in the right... maybe it was wrong to be acting on his own, with the help of his friends instead of the police. All the same, he was now part of a team, he refused to make snap judgements without consulting everyone else. “Sorry Kyoko... I don’t have anything to tell you... It... was just luck...”

“Right. Of course. Just like you to injure yourself through pure luck.” The fact that her voice had eased its intensity was, for whatever reason, even scarier than her angry tone. “I’ll be back later. I hope by then that you’ll have come to your senses and will tell me everything you know.” Without another word, she turned on her heels and left. Just... left. 

What had he done? What was he doing? Why couldn’t he have just said something, anything? Was there a part of him that thought she might think he was insane if he told her he went inside of an unfinished school project to do battle with Shadows? Yeah, probably. But there was also his new friends... to talk might, in some way, implicate them, and he knew that neither Hajime nor Tenko were criminals. Kyoko would be back... he wasn’t sure when, but she’d be back. He needed to have an answer for her by then. Whether a real answer, or a fake, he couldn’t just be silent again... but he had a feeling he’d already damaged their bond beyond repair.

Even after stalling for time in the shower, and talking with Mahiru and that detective about Mahiru staying in her room for a while to rest, Hiyoko had still made it to class early, which had given her a lot of time to think, her head finally clear after this morning, and remembering... last night... Her homeroom was still relatively empty, but she still buried her face in her arms to hide her scarlet cheeks from any onlookers. The pervs and gossips in her class would probably eat it up...

Pushing... that... aside, there was still some other things playing on her mind. Specifically, that island... Tenko had promised to fill her in on the specifics after school at that café, though that didn’t stop her from pondering what was up with that place anyway. After the night when she was attacked... she’d woken up on some beach by a house, or at least a beachside home. Her head hadn’t hurt at all in there, and the three who had come to save her... what were they, really. She’d seen them using those powers of theirs- they had to be superheroes, or something. Heroes...

The memory of her other self flashed into her mind, what it was saying... what she felt... Was she really so selfish that she didn’t actually care about Mahiru, and just wanted to look capable? No, that couldn’t be right, Mahiru was-

The sound of heavy breathing snapped her out of running mental laps in her head. With her face in her arms, she couldn’t tell who it was, but it sounded gross. “Ugh, what do you want?” When her head shot up with a snarl, Hiyoko was surprised to see who the source of that overexcited panting actually was. “Ch-Chiaki?”

Chiaki’s eyes were glimmering, like some kind of pink tinged disco balls, her cheeks burning an excited pink, her mouth hanging open. “H-H-H-Hiyoko...! You. Are. So. Cool!”

“... wh-what the fuck...?”

Chiaki pushed her face closer to Hiyoko’s, their noses almost touching, forcing her to stare into those eyes, shining with childlike joy. “I always knew that the Saionji family were a big deal, but I can’t believe you’re cool enough to be in a video game! It’s always been my dream to transcend this reality into a virtual one... what’s it like?!”

Hiyoko pulled away. She had absolutely no idea what Chiaki was talking about. “A-A video game? I’ve never-“

“But last night! I saw you in my game! The small girl with a big blonde ponytail, wearing a yellow kimono, that Makoto rescued! That was you... I think. I’m sure I heard Tenko or Hajime call you Hiyoko too.”

What? Wait, had Chiaki watched what had happened last night? Was... was she a part of the group that saved her? No, she couldn’t be... ugh, she had no idea! Just in case, play it off. She could ask Tenko later. “I dunno what it ‘feels’ like. I’ve obviously never been inside a video game. God, what planet do you even live on to believe that’s possible? Or do you think that because you’re high? Heh, you are always tired, so-“

“Hiyoko, are you okay?” Her insults had flown right over Chiaki’s head. Sure, even she had to admit that they weren’t her best, but to be outright ignored like that...

“What? Y-yeah, of course, I’m fine. Why...?”

Chiaki’s glow had faded, an expression of serious concern crossing her face. “Your head... why do you have all those bandages on? And your face is all red... are you sick, is that why you weren’t in yesterday?”

“Uh, I-“ Before Hiyoko could continue, the door to their classroom slid open. It was Nagito, however, he didn’t enter. Instead, he stood by the doorframe, his half lidded eyes and expressionless face staring at Hiyoko. She felt a shudder blitz through her, which only made Chiaki’s expression more exasperated. The stare Nagito was giving her... whatever unknown emotion he was feeling, she could sense his enmity from the way he looked at her. His aura was one very familiar to Hiyoko, and it was one Nagito had always possessed; now it was just blaring to life in a manner she hadn’t ever seen from him. 

What exactly was he thinking?

“...”

“...”

Well... this was awkward. Hajime, as planned, had arrived at the teams usual spot to debrief Hiyoko on what they were doing. However, it was just him and Hiyoko. Makoto wasn’t in school because of his broken arm, and thus wasn’t going to be there anyway, and Tenko had suddenly decided to drop out. Why? Hajime had no idea. She’d just dropped him a text telling him that he’d have to cover it alone. 

“For fucks sake, are you gonna say anything, or are you just going to sit there like a bag of sweaty potatoes?” That was... an interesting ‘insult’. 

“R-right... well, uh... where to start...” Considering that Hiyoko came across as rather explosive, he wasn’t so sure whether she’d care for all the nitty-gritty details, she might just see it as a waste of time. It was better to not leave any stone unturned though... “Alright, so... Myself, Makoto, and Tenko have formed a small group that helps people who have been put onto that island. We... we think that that was what was used to commit those murders recently...” Apparently, that was all she needed to hear. 

Something seemed to suddenly click with Hiyoko when he said that. Her dispassionate expression hardened with a rush of determination. “Those murders huh... count me in. I’ll join you guys.”

“Y-you... Huh? But I haven’t-“

“You don’t need to finish. I’ve already made up my mind. I’m gonna join you three.” In spite of all appearances, in that moment, Hajime was reminded of the fact that Hiyoko was his senior. Even through her childish face he could see a fierce resolve befitting of someone who was technically older than him, even though they were in the same year group. 

But of course she would feel that way. After all, Hajime remembered that Hiyoko was one of the girls who used to come to his class and eat with Sato. These events had affected her on a personal level, more so than any of the other members of the team. This did raise a few questions though. Hiyoko, Sato, and Natsumi were all connected to each other, albeit loosely. There was a degree of sense to all of them being targeted by the same person. So what about Tenko and Miaya? What connection did they have to this big picture? At the very least, Miaya was connected to the NWP, but Tenko was entirely removed from the scenario. He had no real answers unfortunately, and he didn’t know how he could possibly solve them either. 

“I’m glad to hear that you’re on board, but I have to warn you, this isn’t safe. You saw what happened with Makoto, and what Usami said... it’s very possible that we could die in there. Are you okay with that?” That was a difficult question to ask, let alone answer. It was one that Hajime himself hadn’t really pondered; how dangerous what they were doing really was. Makoto’s injury finally gave him the thorough dousing of reality he needed to make himself aware of that. 

Hiyoko wasn’t so hesitant though. If anything, she looked confident after he mentioned it. “I’m not scared of death. Besides, I’m more than capable of defending myself.” Her smile was impish, her darkening expression borderline sadistic. Somehow... they might have found someone more intimidating than Tenko...

“A-Alright then... if you’re sure. I’ll tell Tenko to add you to our group chat later. We can discuss when we’ll meet next there. For better or for worse, if you want to help us, we need you to awaken your Persona.”

“That’s what those things you were using in battle are called, right?” Hiyoko’s face fell, all the menacing shadows that had graced her features vanishing in an instant. “Hey... I don’t like having debts. So... help me get Makoto a get well soon gift. You must know him better than I do.”

Oh... she really did feel responsible for what happened to him then. It was a sudden conversation change; mentioning Persona’s must’ve reminded her of what actually happened last night. Still, it was a kind gesture, and one he didn’t expect from her at all. “Yeah, I can help with that. We can head off now, if you’d like.”

The impish grin returned to her face. “... too easy.” Huh? What was that supposed to mean? Was she making fun of him or something? If she was... damn it, why was he becoming friends with so many jerks?

Thou art I... And I am thou... Thou hast established a new bond... 

It brings to thee a new hope...

Thou hast been blessed by the Magician Arcana...

“Oh, Ms. Saionji? And... Mr. Hinata?” The two were pulled out of their conversation by a new voice... a voice Hajime had only heard briefly before. It belonged to that other detective, the mostly silent one who was usually with Kyoko. Shuichi Saihara. “S-sorry, am I interrupting something?”

“No. What do you want?” Hiyoko’s voice was tinged with an underlying aggression, and Shuichi clearly caught onto it, his gaze darting to the floor. 

“W-well... I wanted to discuss...” Hajime just about noticed the side glance Shuichi gave him. “... something with you. About Ms. Koizumi. Umm... alone, if you don’t mind.”

Hiyoko’s tiny fists tensed, as did her brow. “Fine. We can talk.” She turned back to Hajime. “What? Go on, get out of here!” Geez, what was with the sudden aggression?

“... right, got it. I’ll see you later Hiyoko.” It was an unceremonious shooing off, but Hajime already knew why. Shuichi must’ve wanted to ask her a bit about her disappearance. For now, he had to hope Hiyoko wouldn’t say anything troubling for the team. Trusting Hiyoko though... was that really so good an idea? She didn’t come across as... well, right now, loyal would be the right word...

It always caught Hajime off guard whenever he saw Mr. Kizakura outside the tech lab. He’d only come around twice, and it was never for a good reason. “Heeeeeeey kiddo. Mind if I join you inside for a minute. Won’t take long, and it’s nothing bad, I promise.”

Hajime obviously couldn’t turn him down. “Sure, I guess.” Mr. Kizakura’s smile was always the same, a wide smirk that never quite reached his eyes. It was annoying to look at, and kind of unsettling. 

That smile didn’t shift when they entered the lab either. “So. Got another girl for the entourage huh?” Right, of course he’d know about Hiyoko.

“What’s it to you?”

Kizakura threw up his hands, but his constant grin clearly indicated that it was only mockingly defensive. “Hey now, don’t be like that. I’m on your side you know. If it wasn’t for me, little miss detective would have busted your gig right when you started.”

Hajime couldn’t deny that. Without Kizakura editing the security camera footage every night, they’d all be busted for sure. “Why though? Why are you helping us?”

Kizakura took a swig from his flask, rubbing his lips with the back of his hand afterwards. “Didn’t I tell ya? Jin’s got his hand in a lot of peoples businesses, and this one is pretty important to him. Let’s be real kid, this school runs mostly on its reputation, and a scandal as big as three murders on campus? Hoo boy, if that got out, not only would the companies that support this academy pull out to save face, it probably wouldn’t reflect well on the government to continue supporting us either.”

Hajime folded his arms across his chest, with a stern glare directed at Kizakura. “Thanks for the story, but that’s not what I asked. I asked why you were interested in helping, not the headmaster.” Hajime had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from commenting on the actual content of what Kizakura had said. Was this academy really so selfish as to prioritise money over the lives of their students?

Apparently, Kizakura read those thoughts from Hajime’s face. “That’s not all there is to it. But I wouldn’t wanna tell you too much, where would you be left if I gave you all the answers now?” Right, as if he really had ‘all the answers’. “As for me though...” An air of forlornness suddenly swirled around the teacher, his eyes drifting towards the window near the back of the room. “As much as I want to help Jin out, I do have my own stake in this. A personal one, and one Jin should share. Let’s just say... you and your friends aren’t the only ones who don’t want Kyoko Kirigiri getting too deeply involved in this case. For one reason or another...”

For some reason, Hajime couldn’t bring himself to bite back at him. It must’ve been that hint of sadness in Kizakura’s voice... something Hajime pitied. He wasn’t sure what it was exactly, so the most he could really do was be thankful for the information he’d gotten, as vague as it had been. At the very least, it seemed like Kyoko might not be as big an issue as he’d been fearing. 

“I... I’m sorry I kinda snapped at you like that. Thanks for the information...”

Kizakura’s brief and dry chuckle only made Hajime feel worse about the attitude he’d taken with the teacher. “It’s alright kid, I don’t blame ya. I’ll try and visit a little more often from now on, tell you what I can. In the meantime, you keep up your own investigation, someone like you won’t be on the same radar that out official detectives are.”

So, in the end, Hajime and his friends were still being used, weren’t they? Whatever... at least it was for a good cause. And Kizakura clearly wasn’t a bad guy, he wanted to help, in his own cryptic way. Whatever the case, Hajime knew that he needed all the help he could get. 

‘You feel like your bond with Kizakura has grown deeper...’

The Koichi Kizakura Social Link has reached Rank 2.


	34. Chapter 32

Thursday, May 9th

Grumbling, Hajime rolled out of bed as his phone alarm blared in his ears. Wonderful... midterms started today. 

Almost mockingly, as soon as he turned off his alarm, a message came through on the group chat. 

Makoto: gud lck on ur exams u 3!!!!

Makoto was obviously trying to be friendly, but it only irked Hajime that Makoto got to skip the exams. Obviously he wasn’t glad Makoto had broken his arm; still though...

Hiyoko: Shut up! Don’t remind me about those dumb tests! My head is still aching... (-.-)

Tenko: nnnnnnnooooooooo!!!! Hiyoko=Hajime 2!!!!!!!

Tenko: @ least u use emotes...

Hajime: What does that even mean? Whatever the case, I don’t think it’s really that big a deal.

Tenko: yeh it is!!!!! My team cant hav ppl who type so boring!!!

Hajime: But Hiyoko ‘uses emotes’. Is that boring too?

Tenko: shut uuuuuuuupppppp!

Makoto: sorry I started this...

Hiyoko: You should be. 

And with that fantastic start to his day, Hajime set out for school. He was still kind of tired after guarding the NWP last night, but he wasn’t getting time off because of the exams, so he’d have to get used to that added lethargy. Oh well... at least he was confident he’d do at least alright...

Sunday, May 12th

As soon as Kaito dropped into his chair, his forehead dropped onto the small, circular table that he, Maki, and Shuichi were sitting at. “Uuuuugghhhhhh... why do we have’ta do exams! We’re already Ultimates, ain’t that good enough?” Kaito’s low groan was somewhat muffled by the table, but his loud voice prevailed over even that. “Not to mention the fact that we’ve got it harder than everyone else! The rest of the country only has two days of exams, why do we have four?!”

Shuichi let out an exasperated chuckle at Kaito’s whining. As cool as Kaito could be, whenever it came to his academics, his teen side really showed. Sometimes Shuichi had to wonder how Kaito passed the astronaut exam with the attitude he had towards studying. “I think it’s because we’re Ultimates that it’s so hard. We have to be the best of the best, and Hope’s Peak needs to prove that it can both accommodate for us, and achieve results.”

“I don’t think this idiot was looking for a real answer.” Maki’s tone was cold, and her wry smile biting, but Shuichi could tell she didn’t mean anything bad by it. Kaito was, predictably, less receptive to that fact. 

“Hey! First off, I ain’t dumb. And second... whatever, it doesn’t matter. I’m just glad we’ve got Sunday off.” Kaito stretched back in his chair, his arms held straight above his head as he yawned. 

“Honestly, I’d rather get it all done in one go. I think it’s more stressful to have that one extra day looming over me on a day off.” The look of confusion Kaito gave him after he’d said it was a pretty clear indication that Kaito didn’t understand the feeling. That was to be expected of someone so carefree. 

Kaito quickly recovered from his stupor though, flashing a trademark grin and thumbs up. “Ain’t it a reason like that that I’d get my two sidekicks to come out with me on a day off? Guaranteed fun!”

“... if your definition of fun includes headaches and second hand embarrassment.” Shuichi couldn’t help but chuckle at Maki’s exaggerated come back. Bringing together someone as loud and proud as Kaito, and someone quiet and cold like Maki always proved interesting, if not entertaining. 

“Geez, dog pile me a bit more why don’t ‘cha?” Kaito’s sigh failed to mask his smile. Clearly he found this sort of back and forth fun too. “I’m gonna head down the street to that ice cream place and grab some. You two buy something for yourselves from here.”

Shuichi curiously smiled, raising an eyebrow at Kaito. “But... Kaito, we’re already at a dessert shop... I’m sure they sell ice cream here...”

“Uuhhhh... y-yeah, but... this place doesn’t have my favourite flavour, so... yeah. A-and they don’t make ice cream the same here, it tastes completely different. Tell you guys what though, this place has some awesome stuff that’s meant for sharing. I guess the owner has a real tight relationship with her boyfriend or somethin’ since she makes a ton of cakes and stuff for couples. So... yeah, see you two later!” Swinging his jacket like a cape, Kaito took off in a hurry, definitely jogging in the wrong direction if he wanted to get to the ice cream place he was talking about. 

“That... that was weird, right? K-Kaito was acting really weird just now, wasn’t he?”

Maki shrugged. “When isn’t he acting weird? But for knowing what he apparently does about this shop, he did say ‘stuff’ an awful lot...”

Shuichi nodded. “He also stuttered way more than usual too... a few too many ‘yeahs’ were thrown in as well...” 

“Slow down detective. There’s no reason to analyse everything someone like that moron says.” Even when he wasn’t here, Maki was still sharp tongued about Kaito. It’s not like she was one to talk though, if anything, she was the one who started the language analysis. 

“S-sorry, I guess I’ve just been thinking analytically a bit too much lately. What I feel today, about tomorrow’s exam... I’ve started feeling that stress everyday recently...” He wanted to kick himself for bringing down the mood, and Maki’s unflinching stare was only making it worse. 

“Would you like to talk about them then? It might help to just get it off your chest.”

Huh... he hadn’t expected to not be brushed off, or to not be told he was being stupid. “O-oh, no, I couldn’t, it’s all c-confidential... I wouldn’t want to trouble you anyway...”

Maki rolled her eyes, sighing in annoyance as she stood up from the small table. “Hmph... if you don’t want to talk, why don’t we go get a drink or something while we wait for Kaito to come back? I’m not really that into confectionary.”

“M-me either... we could head back to the café we usually meet at. I-it might be a bit standard, but we both like their boba tea.”

“At least you know our tastes better than better than some other idiot we know.” Even as Maki folded her arms in annoyance, she smiled... that rare smile that Shuichi felt like he only saw when they were alone. He knew Maki to be very defensive, it was likely that she would only let her guard down enough to smile when she was alone with one other person, for now. Shuichi wholeheartedly hoped a day would come soon when she could smile like that when they were with all their friends.

Hopefully Shuichi would have time for them all in the future...

“Come in Pianissimo, repeat, come in Pianissimo, can you hear me?”

“Of course I can Kaito, neither of our phones are broken, and even if they were you’re only on the other side of the street, I could just walk over...”

“Shhh Pianissimo! Stick to the code names! Anyway, Love Birds have left the nest, I repeat, Love Birds have left the nest! It’s up to you from here, I’m gonna go get somethin’ to eat. Remember, if you get caught, play it cool, and leave as quickly as you can.”

“... yeah, I got it.”

“Oh, come on, at least sign off with my code name!”

“I got it... Space Cowboy...”

Kaito flashed Kaede a big and bright smile from across the street, before turning on his heel and running who knows where. 

Kaede signed in exasperation, though she couldn’t deny that it also held a degree of shame. Since when had spying on and stalking her friends become a normal part of her life? And how could Kaito possibly treat it as something cool?

Hajime groaned in disbelief when Tenko, Hiyoko and Makoto showed up in the tech lab just before midnight. Unannounced, barging in like it was just their dorm rooms or something. 

“Oh, come off it Hajime! We need to get Hiyoko to awaken her Persona, why not do it now?” As ever, Tenko was the advocate for reckless exploration and combat. 

“Look, I get it, and I do agree, if Hiyoko is going to join up with us, she should get her Persona sooner rather than later. But... we have exams tomorrow... can we really afford to be tiring ourselves out tonight?”

Tenko didn’t respond with words, she opened her mouth and closed it a number of times, but to no avail. Hiyoko on the other hand... “Wow, what a square! What’s the problem bitch baby? Scared? Scared you might not ace that exam tomorrow?” How could someone so innocent looking have such a foul attitude?

“Uh, I don’t really agree with how she said it, but I agree with them Hajime. I think a little bit of fighting might help work out some stress before tomorrow,” Makoto chimed in with his usual mediatory comment. 

“Yeah, but... what about you? Makoto, we can’t have you running around in there with a broken arm. Plus, does Hiyoko even have a weapon to fight with?” His friends were all pretty stubborn, Hajime knew he wouldn’t be able to change their minds, still, he thought he had some good arguments. 

Hiyoko grinned as she pulled a fan out of her kimono. “Oh, I don’t think you have to worry about me...” With a slight flick of her wrist, the fan unfolded. It appeared normal... until Hajime caught sight of the folds glistening in the artificial lights in the lab. 

“A-are those... blades? Why would you even have something like that?” Seriously, a fan made of small blades... that had to be custom made, and that isn’t just something you keep around for self defence. 

Tenko was either unfazed, or didn’t care, however. “See? She’s got herself covered!” Satisfied with that, and ignoring what he’d said about Makoto, Tenko began her leader ‘speech’. “Alright, plan of action time! I say, we split up. We just wanna handle some small time enemies today, since Makoto can’t really fight and Hiyoko is Persona-less. Still, for the sake of efficiency, let’s split into teams of two. I’ll take Hiyoko, Hajime, you take Makoto. That way, we can focus on protecting someone each!”

“... and why can’t we all go together?” Once again, Hajime’s objection fell on deaf ears as Tenko began to push him towards the NWP. 

“As the leader, I’m definitely the one you should be watching closest. I’m also the only one of us trained for combat, so, you know, I’ve got that going for me too.” Tenko carried on blabbing about why she was the best example to follow out of everyone in the team, but Hiyoko had lost interest before she’d even begun. 

Hiyoko didn’t need anyone to teach her how to defend herself at this point in her life. Tonight, all she was here for was that power... that Persona thingy. If anything, it was Tenko’s Persona that she really wanted to see. Unfortunately, Tenko was far more insistent on flexing her actual muscles than any super-powered ones; whenever Hiyoko asked she’d get something like ‘I don’t need a Persona to fight when I have Aikido’. Maybe she should small talk her way into getting to see it instead. “Tenkooooooo... I’m so bored... watching you punch and kick puddles of goo is boring...”

“H-huh...? Boring? Me? O-or is it my Aikido? I’ll bet you wouldn’t feel that way if you practised it with me! I’m already Hajime’s Aikido Master, I can be yours too!” The excitable sparkle in her eyes was endlessly annoying, almost creepy. 

“‘Master’, huh? So you have that kind of relationship, do you?”

“Yeah, totally. I’m teaching another girl too, but you won’t be too much to handle, I promise.”

“... gross.” Hiyoko snickered at Tenko’s look of confusion, and tried to use that faltering state of mind to guide the conversation. “What happened when you got your powers?”

The glint in Tenko’s eyes immediately made Hiyoko regret asking. She should’ve just asked ‘how’ she awakened instead. “You wanna know? I didn’t see the boys awaken, but they didn’t see mine either, so you’re the first one I’m gonna tell! Uh, aside from Usami. Anyway... I was cornered in the park...”

Hiyoko was happy to daydream while Tenko carried on. Her mind focused instead on where Usami was. That must’ve been the rabbit thing from last time. She hadn’t seen it yet... maybe it had found the boys first. 

Protecting Makoto wasn’t proving to be a very difficult task for Hajime. They’d only come across smaller Shadows so far, and Hajime hadn’t had any trouble dispatching them. Of course, he had the added benefit of the fact that Makoto’s Persona was highly support oriented, so not only were his wounds cared for, but, if necessary, he could get some kind of power boosts. 

It was likely because of that that he and Makoto had been the ones to venture out to the central island, while Hiyoko and Tenko stayed on the first. Still, it wasn’t as if Tenko couldn’t have handled this island by herself anyway. Better to be safe than sorry though. 

What was causing Hajime the most anxiety was Makoto. And not just his physical well being. He felt less talkative tonight, and the smile he bore looked as if it had been nailed to his face, rather than springing up naturally. “Makoto... you alright? You don’t seem yourself...”

Makoto, uncharacteristically melancholic, turned his head to the ground. “Hajime, there’s something I need to tell you all... or at least just someone... can we talk for a while?”

There wasn’t really a wholly safe place to talk, so Hajime led Makoto back to the bridge leading to the first island. That way, if they were caught off guard, they’d have an easy escape and way to join up with Tenko. “What’s on your mind then?”

Makoto shuffled on the spot, the arm in his sling hugged even closer to his body. “... Kyoko came to see me on Wednesday morning. And I think... she knows we’re up to something. Or I’m up to something, at least. I didn’t actually tell her anything, but she still saw right through me...”

Hajime felt his chest tighten at that. Of course, getting a detective involved in something like this wasn’t inherently a bad thing, but considering that they’d intervened in these cases... was that technically an obstruction of justice? Were... were they also technically criminals? However, Kizakura’s words resurfaced in his mind; about how Kyoko more than likely would be stopped from going too deep into this case, for some reason. “Oh... well... I mean, is that necessarily a bad thing?”

Makoto solemnly shook his head. “Honestly, I expected Kyoko would find us out sooner or later. She’s the Ultimate Detective, of course she would piece it all together. What I’m really struggling with is... I feel like I’ve betrayed her.”

“Hmm? What do you mean by that?” Hajime tilted his head, curiously. 

Makoto’s free hand gripped the side of his jacket. “Haven’t I betrayed her trust? She used to tell me all these things about her cases, and she’d ask for my help... and I basically used that to serve my own ends, you know? I used her trust in me selfishly...”

The sorrow in Makoto’s eyes stirred Hajime to pity, one of his hands reassuringly patting Makoto’s uninjured shoulder. “Didn’t you say that you weren’t going to tell her in order to protect her? Even if you did betray her trust, isn’t it for a worthy cause in the end? When she sees what you’ve accomplished, I’m sure she’ll understand.”

Makoto clearly wasn’t so sure about that. “I did say that... but that wasn’t my only motivation. If I’d just told Kyoko about all this, she would probably have these cases solved by now. And she doesn’t need my protection, look at me, all I’ve managed to do is seriously hurt myself...”

“But you did that trying to save Hiyoko. And you did save her.”

Makoto looked up at Hajime from behind gloomy eyes, shrugging off the hand on his shoulder. “Yeah... but Kyoko wouldn’t have let it get to that point. She’s everything I’m not. She’s cool, calm and collected under pressure, she’s smart... really, I just wanted to use this chance to show her that I’m cool too... you know, by solving a case that she couldn’t... I’m just being selfish...”

Hajime wasn’t sure what to say. To be frank, he knew what Makoto was feeling- he felt it as well. That somewhere deep down, he was only helping to save people because it could prove to even a small group that he was worthwhile, that a Reserve Course Student could accomplish things just as great as Ultimates. Chuckling dryly, he instead tried to lighten the mood. “When you talk about her like that, it sounds more like you’ve got a crush than anything else.”

Makoto didn’t respond right away. He continued to stare at the floor. “Maybe...” Well, Hajime certainly wasn’t expecting acceptance of that! “Is that why I feel so bad then? Because I’ve betrayed someone I have feelings for? But... I’ve had crushes before, heck, even on girls in my class, but I don’t think I really feel the same about Kyoko... I dunno...”

“Hey, you’re asking the wrong person for help there. If you need to talk about love, maybe try Tenko. Then again, I don’t think she’ll give you any healthy answers.” At last, that drew a slight chuckle from Makoto. 

“Thanks for listening to me Hajime. I know this is all a problem I made, so you really don’t have to listen to me go on about it.”

Hajime dismissively waved off that notion with a flick of his hand. “Come on, of course I’d listen. That’s what friends are for, right?” When Makoto looked back to Hajime, the genuine smile he often wore like a badge of honour had resurfaced, bringing a light to his otherwise weary face. 

‘You feel like your bond with Makoto has grown deeper...’

The Makoto Naegi Social Link has reached Rank 3. 

“Kyoko said that she’s going to talk to me again soon. I don’t know what I’m going to tell her yet though...”

Hajime sighed. Not for the fact that Makoto was still worried, but because he couldn’t believe what he was about to say. “Ugh, I’m going to sound just like Tenko when I say this, but I think you should just follow your heart. Regardless of whether or not we’re going to oppose your decision, I think the coolest thing to do would be to tell her whatever you think is right. To carve your own path forward, be it with us or her.”

Makoto lightly chuckled. “Heh-heh, yeah, you did sound like Tenko. Emotionally driven, and probably way too irresponsible.”

“Hey... I’m trying...” There was a moment of comfortable silence between the two. Somehow, they both knew that nothing more needed to be said. 

They then heard the rattle of gunfire from the first island. 

“Heh-heh... heh... funny that the Shadow from my story just so happened to show up, huh?”

Hiyoko bonked Tenko on the head with her fist as Tenko ran, Hiyoko held in her arms, from the mechanised chair-Shadow-thing that Tenko had mentioned in her story. “Shut up and move it! You totally jinxed us, you sweaty pig!”

“Ah, I’m sorry!” Tenko cried, running slightly faster. It was probably unnecessary though, considering that Tenko’s Persona was doing a pretty good job of occupying the Shadow. 

Even better was the fact that they could see Hajime and Makoto running towards them. Hiyoko jumped out of Tenko’s arms when they all reached each other. “What happened you two? We heard gunfire.” Hajime’s voice was laden with concern, even though neither of them were actually hurt. 

“Oh, just a little run in with a big Shadow. Nothing we can’t handle with all of us together. I held my own against it fairly well the last time I came in here alone, so two of us should beat this thing no problem.” Tenko clearly didn’t sense any danger in the situation, and Hiyoko couldn’t say that surprised her; Tenko did come across as a massive meat head. 

Hajime took that in as well, rolling his eyes. “Fine, if you really don’t think it’s so big a deal... Makoto, protect Hiyoko. We should be done with this soon. Let’s go Tenko!”

“Hmm... is there something I’m forgetting...?” Those were the last words Hiyoko heard from Tenko as she ran off with Hajime to fight the Shadow. 

There was an odd feeling in Hiyoko’s chest as she watched them go. It wasn’t out of concern for them; it was something else... something...

Hiyoko squeaked as Makoto grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the way of a black claw that had shot out of a nearby bush... and was quickly followed by an entire black and white bear. In a panic, Hiyoko pulled her fan out from her sleeve, opened it, and sliced the bladed folds across the bears eyes, before Makoto gave it a firm kick, knocking it over. “Wow, that was pathetic. If Shadows go down that easy, maybe I don’t even need a Persona.”

While Hiyoko was busy scoffing, Makoto tugged on her sleeve. “Hiyoko...” Running down the path towards them were more of the bears. A lot more. But as they turned to run, they realised that they were almost entirely surrounded, a hoard of bears appearing as if from nowhere. 

“Oh! That’s right, now I remember!” Tenko exclaimed as she rolled out of the way of the charging Shadow, the wheels that had been laying idle the last time she’d seen it now whirring with energy. 

“Wh-what did you remember?” Hajime winced as a barrage of bullets cut into the arm defending him.

“The last time I fought this thing, it had this army of bear Shadows as well. Like...” She watched one of this bears waddle past the two of them. “Like that one! It’s-“ That’s when they both noticed the hoard of bears gathered behind them. They were gathering around... “Uh-oh...”

Hiyoko watched as Makoto’s Persona punched its way through some of the bears, piercing others with blades of light, but still they kept coming. His breathing was beginning to become laboured the more he attacked, while Hiyoko only sliced at bears that got too close. Even so, the circle around them was getting tighter...

“H-Hiyoko... I’ll make a path for you... go and join up with Tenko and Hajime...”

“What, you want me to leave you here? Are you retarded? Get a grip!” She elbowed him in the back, earning him a grunt of discomfort. 

“Oww... h-hey, there’s no need to be like that... just... stay safe, okay?”

Why was this moron acting like this? Acting like such a burden... She should’ve just gone along with it, let him cut a path for her to run to safety. She had no reason to care for this dumbass, by all means she should care way more about herself. 

So why did she actually give a shit about making sure he was safe?

Everything seemed to slow down when three of the bears lunged at the two of them. It was obviously only for a brief second in reality, but in Hiyoko’s mind they hung there for several agonising minutes. Inching closer. Every one of her adrenaline boosted gasps shortening her remaining lifespan by another second. She could see Makoto wince out of the corner of her eye; he, too, was ready for it.

Hiyoko’s eyes shot open as a mind numbing ringing noise blasted through her skull. 

“I am thou... thou art I...”

She clenched her teeth as her entire body tensed up; so tense that she felt as if the ground beneath her was cracking. 

Her lungs pushed forth a scream louder than even she thought she was capable of. “PERSONA!”

Savage gusts of wind whipped around Hiyoko and Makoto, tearing through the Shadow’s, and sending many others flying backwards, all as a bright light glimmered around Hiyoko. 

Both Hiyoko and Makoto were swept off their feet as well, by the Persona manifesting for Hiyoko. The pair were scooped up into an... empty, levitating bath tub?

Apparently, the tub was a part of the Persona. The tub was coloured a regal jade, golden flower petals ornamenting the main body, vines reaching around the whole tub, connecting each intricate golden bulb and petal. The tubs interior was devoid of water, but resting at the back end was a bronze statue of a dancer, her motionless legs elegantly crossed within the tub. A splash of colour decorated the sculpture; hair as golden as Hiyoko’s own tumbled down the dancers shoulders- not only was the colour similar to Hiyoko’s hair, so were the curls and length- though it too was eternally immortalised in bronze. The only part of the statue that seemed to move were its arms, which mechanically rotated around, each hand wielding a folding fan, which, when the arms stopped moving, unfolded to mask the statues face and chest. 

Finding her feet, Hiyoko gripped both sides of the tub, a sinister smirk warping her face. “Come now, let’s put on a show, Ame-no-Uzume!”

Ame-no-Uzume began to spin like a carousel, its arms extending, fans unfolding, as powerful gales cut through the bears like a hot knife through butter. 

Hiyoko manically giggled as Makoto, still laying in the base of the tub, retched. “Ooooogh... slow down... I think I’m gonna be sick...”

Hajime watched in awe as the new Persona made effortless work of the Shadows surrounding it. The Persona looked ridiculous, but it was certainly powerful. Kind of put him and Tenko to shame. Speaking of which...

Tenko delivered a powerful kick to the side of the Shadow they were battling, tilting it onto its side slightly just before Eros fired an arrow into the screen on its seat, a wail of pain screeching from its speakers.

“Alright Hajime, you ready for a-“ Before Tenko could finish her call to action, a witch-worthy cackle rose above even the agonised screeches of the Shadow. Hiyoko charged between them, gleeful villainy in her eyes as her Persona crashed into the Shadow at a ludicrous speed. 

The Shadow barely had time to make a sound before it exploded, raining goop down on the two who had failed to defeat the Shadow before Hiyoko... and she’d made it look so easy. Comically easy. Tenko stood, arms and jaw slack, staring at Hiyoko, who was now back on her feet, her Persona dissipating, also leaving behind a green faced Makoto. “Holy... that was... I mean... wha...” Tenko was at a loss for words, and, honestly, so was Hajime. 

“Don’t just stand there, idiots!” Hiyoko calmly walked past the two of them. There were still a few bears waddling after her, and, spurred on by what Hajime guessed was a sudden confidence boost after her awakening, Hiyoko casually walked towards them. 

“Hiyoko, wait!” Hajime called out to stop her, but it clearly wasn’t needed. Every bear that lunged at her missed their mark at the very last second, Hiyoko gracefully spinning out of the way of each swipe of their claws with all the dexterity he expected a dancer to possess- an arc of the back, a stylish shuffle to the side, even just a simple spin. And with each dodge... one of the bears was rewarded for its failure with a gash across its face. Hiyoko’s display was so effortlessly powerful... her cuts were calculated and concise, and in no time at all she singlehandedly cut down all the remaining Shadows. 

Hajime and Tenko’s eyes met, both of their mouths still agape. “Tenko... I think we’re done with stress relief for the night...”

“... and so that’s why I think I deserve to be the leader.”

In the short walk back to the cottages, and out of the NWP, Hiyoko hadn’t stopped taking about why she believed she had to be the most powerful member of the team, and why that should make her the de-facto leader. “Hiyoko, as much as I’d hate to say it, we-“ Hajime was abruptly cut off by an excited high pitched squeal. 

Four pairs of nervous eyes landed on the girl hiding in the corner of the tech lab, behind Chihiro’s set-up. “Ahhhhhhh! Y-you’re real...! You’re all real...! I can’t believe it...!”

“Ch-Ch-Chiaki...?” Hiyoko nervously stuttered a name as the girl bounded over to the four, bouncing on her heels when she finally stopped, waving her fists in front of her like a kid who’d just seen something exceptionally cool in a TV show. 

Chiaki was breathing so heavily that Hajime could see her chest heaving, her joyous blush illuminating the lab. “Aww, guys, don’t look at me like that. Don’t act like we’re total strangers.” Hajime knew he wasn’t the only one giving her a look of confusion and disbelief, though the unanimous silence might have been because no one had expected they’d get caught so easily... and red handed too... “Come on guys... I know it’s hard to recognise me in reality, but I guess Hiyoko is the only one who knows me by my real name. I’m Chiaki Nanami, but you probably only know me as Usami!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fool- Tenko’s Justice Patrol: Rank 2  
> Magician- Hiyoko Saionji: Rank 1  
> Hierophant- Angie Yonaga: Rank 2  
> Lovers- Komaru Naegi: Rank 1  
> Chariot- Martial Artists: Rank 3  
> Temperance- Koichi Kizakura: Rank 2  
> Devil- Miu Iruma: Rank 2  
> Star- Makoto Naegi: Rank 3  
> Aeon- Sonia Nevermind: Rank 2  
> Jester- Gundham Tanaka: Rank 1
> 
> Sorry it took a few days for this chapter to come out! I just wasn’t really happy with how this chapter was going, so I ended up rewriting pretty much the whole thing, and I’m still not entirely satisfied with it to be honest, but it’s still the best I think I’m going to be able to make it without waiting another week to post...


	35. Chapter 33

Monday, May 13th

If their final midterm exams weren’t stressful enough, the group anxiety felt by the whole team as they sat huddled in Chiaki’s dorm room was intense enough to cause heart failure. Turns out blowing off steam killing Shadows meant nothing if you spent the rest of the day panicking about something else. 

Chiaki at least wasn’t perturbed at all, she still looked just about as giddy as she had done last night; she was obviously bursting with questions she wanted to ask. But first and foremost, they had a question that needed answering too. 

“Chiaki, right? You said that you’re Usami, but... what does that mean exactly?” Hajime was the only one who seemed ready to talk, the other three pretending to be off in their own little worlds. 

“... Oh!” Chiaki walked over to a set of drawers by her bed, and, after rummaging around for a moment, pulled out a game system that Hajime had never seen before. Actually... that wasn’t true... he’d seen it once before somewhere... “There you go. Just...” She quickly tapped a button on the side of the small console; the screen slowly brightening. 

Oddly enough, there wasn’t any sort of home screen, or settings options, instead, the screen immediately displayed a game. A game that displayed environments that were very familiar to him. Not to mention-

“Whoooaaa! That’s Usami! I... think?” Tenko leaned over Hajime’s shoulder, pointing at the display. The resolution on screen wasn’t great, but, really, what was Hajime expecting compared to reality; they had experience different Jabberwock Island and Usami in person. Everything was compressed and pixilated slightly, and yet Hajime could still identify the place where Usami was. She was just outside of the cottages...

Makoto also leaned over Hajime’s shoulder, taking care to not knock about his arm in his sling. “Huh... what is this? What’s going on...?”

With his two shoulders occupied, Chiaki sat down next to Hajime so she too could point at the screen. “A friend of mine made this for me. It’s basically a third person dungeon crawler slash RPG. Or... I guess it’s a little more than that...” Chiaki leaned over Hajime’s lap so she could talk to Hiyoko, the only person who hadn’t crowded around him yet... have any of these people heard of personal space? “Hiyoko, have you been a video game character this whole time and you didn’t tell me?!”

“What? No of course not, idiot,” Hiyoko spat. “We’re real people, obviously.”

“But... you came from the game...” Chiaki pouted at Hiyoko, which only earned her an eye roll from the dancer. 

“As cool as I’m sure that would be... I think it must be the other way around. It’s more like we put ourselves in a video game...” Even as Hajime said it, he couldn’t believe it. This entire set up threw so much into question... but most importantly was the purpose of the NWP. All he’d been able to find out up till this point had been that it was basically supposed to be used for therapy, so how did a video game tie into that? Why was this game and console made, and, on top of that, why was it given to some girl who didn’t have any involvement with the Neo World project?

“... can you take me with you next time?” Four pairs of eyes once again landed on Chiaki, her own eyes sparkling in admiration and wonder. 

“Umm... well, I dunno if-“ Hajime was promptly shut up by Tenko delivering a swift chop to the side of his head. 

“I don’t see why not. If you really are Usami, you’re basically already a member of the team, right? So I don’t see a problem with bringing you in.”

Chiaki immediately shot up from the floor, excitedly bouncing from one foot to the other. “Ah...! I can’t wait! Can I be in charge of team building? I’ve already made notes on all of your move sets and stats.” Chiaki’s eyes hovered over Hiyoko. “When can we go back in? I need to see what Hiyoko can do!”

Makoto lightly chuckled at her enthusiasm. “It’s nice to hear that you’re so eager, but... well, we usually only go in when we have to rescue people. Otherwise we let it be... and we did just go in yesterday...”

The smile fell from Chiaki’s face, a depressed frown replacing it in a split second. “Oh... oh, okay... I guess I did only see you all a handful of times in there...”

“Heh-heh-heh...!” Tenko chuckled to herself, standing with Chiaki. “I don’t see why we shouldn’t find the time to go in with you soon. As far as I’m concerned, you’re already part of the team, and we got Hiyoko involved pretty quickly, so we will absolutely make time for you soon.” Tenko slung an arm around Chiaki’s shoulders, pulling her close, as a slightly more muted smile returned to Chiaki’s face. 

“Aww, what a nice leader.” Tenko’s face flashed bright red at the compliment, an incomprehensible babble of slurred words falling from her lips. 

As Hiyoko stood as well, she brushed some probably nonexistent dirt from her kimono, aggressively sighing. “Alright, alright, are we done here? Now that this mess has been cleared up, I’ve got to go.”

“Oh that’s right, you were going to celebrate Mikan’s birthday today, weren’t you?” Chiaki tilted her head at Hiyoko, the comment seemingly catching Hiyoko off guard. 

“Y-yeah... how did you know that?” 

“Since it was her actual birthday yesterday, I went to see her then. But she was busy with something, so she said she didn’t really have the time. That was when she told me that you and Ibuki were going to spend the afternoon with her today... I think.” Shortly after Chiaki stopped, she gasped. “Oh, sorry, we must be keeping you. Have fun Hiyoko.”

“... I will...” With that, Hiyoko picked up her school bag, and left Chiaki’s room.

“What was that about?” Hajime knew Hiyoko was pretty strange, but what was with that reaction just now? She seemed to suddenly become... really awkward. Or uncomfortable.

Chiaki lightly gripped her arm, that depressing frown dragging the corners of her mouth down again. “I’m not one hundred percent sure... but I have an idea. I have been in Hiyoko’s class for a few years before now. I don’t think she’s really all that used to people taking an interest in her life, or anything she does... I think anyway. I always assumed that that was why she likes Mahiru so much, she took a genuine interest in Hiyoko as a person.”

Well... that did make some sense. Maybe that’s why Hiyoko was so... violent in the NWP yesterday. There’s a lot of tension that’s built up in so small a girl. “So it’s less about you knowing Mikan’s birthday, more so about you caring that they were going to spend time together?” Hajime queried. 

Chiaki’s only response was a silent nod, which allowed Tenko’s rambunctious voice to fill the dorm again. “So Hiyoko is struggling with emotions then? In that case, there’s an even bigger reason for me to become her Aikido Master! But uh...” Tenko poked her two index fingers together. “I kinda need to run off as well. There’s some stuff Angie wanted my help with. I’ll make sure to stay in contact with you Chiaki.” Just before Tenko ran out, she had one final declaration to make. “While we’re gone, you two degenerates better not lay a single pervy finger on Chiaki, got it?”

Chiaki tilted her head in confusion as Makoto awkwardly laughed. Hajime could only roll his eyes; he’d seen a lot of nuance to Tenko and her personality, but that degenerate stuff was inescapable. 

“So it’s just us now... kinda like when I first met you two on Jabberwock Island...”

Just the three of them... there was a nagging feeling in Hajime’s heart that told him this wasn’t really the time, but if not now, when? “Chiaki... can me and Makoto ask you a few questions? About your involvement with the students at the tech lab.”

Makoto was quick to push for the questioning as well. “Yeah. Sorry if we’re coming on a little fast, but... well, I guess we never really told Usami, did we? Hajime and I suspect that the murders at Hope’s Peak were committed using that Neo World machine. That’s the real reason we’ve been going in, to save students from suffering the same fate, and figure out who’s trying to kill students.”

Chiaki crossed her arms as she dropped back to the floor. “Oh... then it’s much more serious than I thought... that does explain why Hiyoko joined you at all though...”

Hajime had a feeling he knew what she meant- Hiyoko was unbearably prickly, and the fact that she so willingly wanted to be a part of a team with strangers was certainly weird. Still, he had to ask. “What do you mean Chiaki?”

“I... I don’t think it’s really my place to say... but she’s been really hurting the past month...” So it was true. It all linked back to the murders. Hajime had seen Hiyoko in his class with Sato before; he shouldn’t have been surprised. “What did you want to ask me?”

“To be honest... we really need all the help we can get. Anything you know about the project, anything at all... please, tells us...” Hajime knew just as well as anyone that they were desperate for information now, the desperation in his voice couldn’t have been clearer. 

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like Chiaki was going to be their big break. “... I’m sorry. I don’t know much. I have a friend who’s a part of the project, and she’s the one who gave me that handheld, but she hasn’t told me anything about the actual project. It’s all super private...”

“Oh, no no no, that’s okay, it’s fine if you don’t know much.” Makoto was quick on damage control, issuing a feeble attempt to prevent Chiaki from looking so glum. “Was there a reason your friend gave that console to you?”

“All she asked me to do was check the game out everyday... to see if there were any bugs in the code. You know, game breaking glitches, that sort of stuff.”

She’d given them an answer. But was it really helpful at all? To Hajime, it sort of sounded like Usami was basically just an avatar for bug sweeping. There wasn’t much to go on from there. It was enough though. Hajime knew what he’d be doing tomorrow lunch time- he’d be paying the tech lab another visit. 

Sweat beaded on Kaede’s brow as her fingers slid across her piano keys, desperately trying to keep rhythm with Sayaka’s fast paced dance moves, the energetic idol bounced around the stage in the music room with all the skill Kaede would expect from an Ultimate. 

She didn’t usually create music herself, she usually just played pre-existing pieces, but when Sayaka had asked her for help in creating a new track, Kaede couldn’t say no to her. 

“Ahhh! I’m sorry Sayaka, I just can’t keep up! I guess I’m too used to playing slower classical pieces.” Kaede hung her head, a little ashamed that she’d failed at the one thing she considered herself good at, not to mention the fact that she must’ve been letting Sayaka down...

Sayaka didn’t seem to have the same downcast opinion, however. She skipped over to the grand piano in the music room, a bright smile on her face. “Don’t worry about it Kaede. You did amazingly considering you improvised it on the spot. In fact, it’s probably my fault, I’m so used to my pop music that I didn’t think about the genre change for you.”

“That’s sweet of you Sayaka, but-“ A delicate finger pressed to her lips silenced Kaede. 

“Now now, let’s stop the blame game. Let’s agree we both messed up today, okay? We’ll get it next time!” Sayaka’s joyful giggle was infectious, and Kaede found herself forgetting about how badly she’d failed as she started to laugh as well. 

“Next time? You still want me to help you out?”

“Of course! To be honest, I’ve always wanted to do a collaboration piece, but Ibuki always says she’d rather not do pop.”

That got a laugh out of Kaede as well. “Heh-heh, yeah, I can’t really imagine Ibuki making pop music either.”

Their pleasantries were suddenly cut short by a knock at the door. Who could that be? It obviously wasn’t Ibuki, she wouldn’t knock. “Uh, come in!” Kaede called out. 

When the door creaked open, Kaede nearly leapt out of her seat as Shuichi walked in. “S-sorry, am I... interrupting something? I heard music when I was outside so...”

“No, we’re done.” Sayaka moved towards Shuichi so quickly and gracefully that Kaede wasn’t even sure her feet had ever touched the ground. “I’m guessing you wanted to talk to Kaede? I’ll step out for a moment if you’d like some privacy.” Kaede couldn’t see what expression Sayaka had made, or if she’d even made one at all, but Shuichi’s face quickly became a cherry red. 

“N-no, it’s okay... I, uhh, don’t think it’s private at all...” Shuichi was nervously thumbing the rim of his hat as he spoke. Kaede wasn’t a huge fan of the hat; all the same, she found the way he played with it to be really cute. 

As if ignoring what he’d said, Sayaka walked past Shuichi, towards the door, but not before giving him a little nudge forward. With how nervous Shuichi looked, it actually put Kaede on edge a little bit. “So... what did you want to talk about Shuichi?”

“Uhh... u-umm... I... I wanted to a-apologise to you Kaede.”

Kaede raised an eyebrow at him, cocking her head to the side slightly. “Apologise? What for? I can’t think of anything you’ve done that would warrant an apology...” If anything, she should be apologising to him because of what she and Kaito had been doing...

“It’s just... I haven’t really spoken to you much recently. My cases have been keeping me busy, so I haven’t really had time for some people...” Shuichi still hadn’t made eye contact with her. This must’ve been really serious for him...

All the same, Kaede couldn’t help but softly giggle at him. “Oh, Shuichi, you don’t have to worry about that. I understand. You’re busy, you can’t spend your time with everyone. To be honest, it’s sweet of you to come and apologise for it, but it’s also kinda silly, you know?”

“Yeah but... I mean, I don’t even talk to you that often on my days off anymore. Like yesterday, when I saw you, I didn’t even say hi.”

Yesterday? Oh... oh no... If it was possible, Kaede would have turned herself invisible right then and ran. “Y-yesterday? You saw me?”

“Actually, Maki saw you first. She kind of got on my case for not being able to spot someone in a pink sweater, despite being a detective.” He smiled as he remembered it... that smile made something curl up and die inside of Kaede’s chest. 

“O-oh, you... well, it’s alright, I was... busy yesterday, I probably wouldn’t have had time to talk, ha-ha... heh...” Great, that wasn’t totally an obvious lie. 

Though if Shuichi had picked up on it, he didn’t let on. “Really? Then... umm... w-would you like to... uh, when you’ve finished up here... would you like to get something to eat... with me?”

Shuichi’s face was still a beet red, and Kaede feared hers might be as well. It was uncharacteristically forward of Shuichi to ask like that... even if Kaito might get mad about her interfering with his ‘big plan’, how could she say no? “Sure thing! I’m gonna be done soon. Want to meet at the school gate?”

Shuichi gave her a nervous nod as he walked back across the room to leave, waving at her as he finally left. And as soon as that door closed, Sayaka bounded back into the room, hopping over to Kaede. “Wow... I wish I could have something like that...”

If her face wasn’t red before, it certainly was now. The fact that Sayaka has likely eavesdropped on them flying completely over her head, Kaede directed her line of sight back to her piano to calm herself, her fingers lightly pressing some random keys. “Wh-what do you mean? We don’t-“

Sayaka chuckled knowingly, a playful smirk dancing across her lips. “Aww, that’s so cute! You have to tell me, is he your boyfriend, or just a crush?”

A groan Kaede had never heard from a piano filled the room as her fingers tensed on some keys. It was fittingly unharmonious; it matched the thumping in her chest. “... shut up...”


	36. Chapter 34

Tuesday, May 14th

The eerie blue light of the Velvet Room slowly soaked Hajime’s eyes; once again he found himself face to face with Igor and Sonia, sinister shadows masking half of their faces. 

Behind them, the blackboard had been changed once again- a chalk drawing of Hiyoko had been added to the board alongside himself, Makoto and Tenko. Curiously, Usami, on the far end, had been wiped away, Chiaki’s countenance replacing it. 

“And so your group grows ever larger,” Igor’s calm and commanding voice demanded Hajime’s attention. “Diversity brings many possibilities, though while some can guide you towards a brighter tomorrow, those possibilities also include the chance of fracture. You have been warned, life will never travel along a simple path, every road has its deviations, and yours is no exception.” Igor stopped to chuckle, even if Hajime couldn’t tell how. Like as he talked, Igor’s jaw moved to laugh, but his jaw never opened, his toothy smile on permanent display. 

“As of now, the bonds you’ve forged are fragile, the foundations of truly deep connections have been laid, and yet you have not taken action yourself to deepen many of these bonds. Instead you wait for others to reveal themselves to you.” Disappointedly, Igor shook his head. “What arrogance. The disaster you were warned of is fast approaching its due date, and nothing has been done to avert that. If you continue to remain idle, this outcome will remain unavoidable. Fate can be altered, but only with a strong will. I wonder... does our current guest truly have the willpower to avert disaster? We shall see...” As Igor chuckled deeply once more, Sonia joined him; her sweet smile seemed more likely poisonous considering the context. 

Whatever the case, that ominous laughter was the last thing Hajime saw of the Velvet Room, the lights in the room fading to black as he awoke from his dreamscape. 

The tech lab was just about as populated as Hajime had expected it to be at lunch, though he admittedly hadn’t expected to find Chihiro there instead of Yasuke. 

Her and Miu were in the back of the lab, by Miu’s set-up, chatting, by the looks of it. He didn’t want to interrupt them, but he needed his intel sooner rather than later. 

It might have been a blessing that Miu noticed him coming in, maybe it was a curse; whatever the case, she called him over in the only way Miu knew how: “Oi, limp dick! Get your ass over here, I need to use your body!”

That didn’t sound good... nervously, Hajime shuffled over to the back of the room, his resolve to get any information about Chiaki’s console being drowned out by his instinctual fear of whatever Miu wanted him for. “Hello to you too...” Miu rolled her eyes at his sarcastic remark, but Chihiro seemingly hadn’t noticed the tone of his voice. That or she was just being polite. 

“Good a-afternoon Hajime. Did you want-“ Chihiro was quickly interrupted by Miu’s vulgar laugh. 

“Duh, he obviously can’t get enough of me and the twins! Lucky for him, I actually need him today. Ya could’a stopped by sooner, ya know? You haven’t made good on our deal!” Miu soon began spitting her lightest venom at him; just what he’d expect from the resident ‘genius’. 

“You have my number... you’ve even texted me before. If you wanted me to test something for you, you could just ask...” Another truly brilliant display of intelligence from Miu, but she didn’t back down from this one. 

“Psh, so? I’ve got the numbers of so many boys that an NPC like you must’ve gotten lost in the crowd. I can’t imagine you don’t know what that’s like, right?” She laughed as she said it... and for once that made her insults hit home. It wasn’t something Hajime had concerned himself with all that much recently, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still insecure about his normality. 

Unlike with his sarcasm, Chihiro seemingly picked up on the wave of anxiety that suddenly washed over Hajime. “M-Miu, why don’t you g-go and get the invention you wanted to test?”

“Ugh, fine!” Miu grunted in annoyance as she turned around. “Really work him up while I’m gone, Cherry Pie! But don’t make him finish, that’s my job!” Her disgusting laugh trailed off as she trotted into the corner of the room, where a bunch of boxes were all stacked up, and she began rummaging through them.

“Cherry Pie? What, is that a nickname or something?”

Chihiro’s shoulders slumped, her arms folded in front of her. “Y-yeah... Miu gives a lot of people nicknames. I-I don’t really know why she decided on Cherry Pie though... m-maybe she thinks I’m sweet?” There was a small glimmer of hope in Chihiro’s eyes; considering who have her the nickname though, and the specification of ‘cherries’... Hajime had a funny feeling the nickname had nothing to do with being sweet. 

Slamming a box down onto her work bench, Miu stuck her hands into it, feeling around for whatever it was that she wanted. In the meantime... “What did I tell you to do? He don’t look ready to me!” Scoffing, Miu rolled her eyes. “Hajime, get your shirt off. Now!”

“What?!” Not only did Hajime reel back, so did Chihiro. What exactly was he about to do? “Why should I take my shirt off?”

As if the answer was self explanatory, Miu grumbled at him. “Just shut it and strip! Obviously it’s for my invention that I’m gonna test on ya!”

“M-Miu... I think you should a-at least tell us what your invention is...” The look Miu gave Chihiro after she raised her objection was a mixture of disappointment and anger. 

“I don’t have to explain anythin’ to you slugs!”

“Then I’ll just leave.” Hajime crosses his arms defiantly, the threat immediately causing Miu to break down. 

“Ahhh, wait, stay! L-look, you wanna know, I’ll tell ya, j-just... be patient, yeah?” So Miu needed to collect herself before she explained the invention? Yeah, likely story... “So, like, a week ago, I read that cupping is becoming this really popular thing with athletes. So...!” Out of her box, Miu pulled a device that ultimately just looked like some glass jars attached to vacuum tubes. “I figured, since athletes need personal trainers or some shit to do this sorta stuff for them, why not design something that anyone can use? It’s supposed to be good for the body, or muscles, or something. Blood flow maybe. Eh, point is, you can care to your own body even while you’re asleep!”

Hajime had no idea how that all connected to body care while asleep, nor did he understand why he was the one whom this was being tested on. “Okay... so why do you want to test this on me, and not an athlete?”

“Because of our deal, duh! Plus, you’ve got...” Miu pointed a finger at him, moving it around to trace the outline of his body in the air. “You’re body is decently big, but I can’t imagine a virgin like you has any sorta’ muscle mass. So you’re probably the perfect in-between for athletes and normal people.” Right. ‘Probably’, she says... Sounded to Hajime like she just wanted to torture him. 

He couldn’t turn her down though- since this was a stipulation of their deal. And so, that was how Hajime found himself laying face down, shirtless, on Miu’s work bench that afternoon. 

“Fuck, you are even less impressive than I’d imagined. Oh well, time to test these babies out! Just relax, and I’m sure this’ll go fine.” That certainly didn’t fill him with any amount of confidence whatsoever. 

Not helping his apprehension and dread was the fact that he could feel a pair of eyes fixed on him. They certainly weren’t Miu’s... which meant they belonged to Chihiro? But why was she staring at him? Whatever her reason was, he felt like she was analysing him, which only made him more self conscious. He hadn’t pegged her for the judgmental type.

All of a sudden, his fears were drained away when he felt a cool ring press against his back, and the gentle whir of some sort of machine started up. Whatever it was, it must’ve been connected to the cups, as he felt his skin start to raise inside of it. “Uuugghhh... Oww... Well... it certainly feels just like stretching before a workout... is it supposed to feel like that?”

With his face against the bench, he couldn’t see Miu’s reaction, but considering her dismissive grunt, he imagined she’d just shrugged. “How the fuck should I know? I’ve never been cupped before. Not like this anyway, ha-HA!” Her self-satisfied laughter was even more annoying now than ever before, likely because Hajime was starting to fear for the safety of his body. 

And what Chihiro said next only worsened those fears. “Miu...? I-is his skin supposed to be turning purple?”

“I-it’s WHAT?!”

“Yeah yeah, I watched the videos of it online, it’s all fine, it’s supposed to look like that. Chihiro, help me stick these last ones on.” Another five cups were placed along Hajime’s back, each drawing a low groan from him. This cupping felt kind of like getting a massage, just... a bit scarier... which was probably the point of it actually, considering what Miu said about the practise before. “Welp, now we just gotta wait for a few minutes before we take ‘em off. So...” Miu walked two of her fingers down Hajime’s back where there were no cups, her fingernails lightly digging into his skin. “Now that you have two lovely ladies attending to your every need, why don’t you take the opportunity to spill your guts?”

Ignoring the explicit undertones, no, overtones, of Miu’s words, Hajime understood that she was just telling him that this was a good chance to cash in his request for intel. She really didn’t have to say it like she did though... or do that thing with her fingers. “Sure, whatever... I wanted to ask, have you designed a hand held console recently?”

To his surprise, it was actually Chihiro who answered back. “Oh! Y-yes actually, the Usami Sweeping System! Are you a friend of Chiaki Nanami’s?”

“Whoa-ho-ho short stack, I’M the one who actually designed the thing, you might have given it a purpose, but I’m the one who made that bitch!”

So it was a group effort then? “I guess you could say I’m a friend of Chiaki’s, yeah. Why’d you make it though? Seems a bit weird for two people working on a bigger project to start something small like that.”

Unfortunately, before Chihiro could answer, Miu’s chesty laugh asserted itself into fold. “Cherry Pie stuck the bug sweeping thing in by absolute chance, didn’t ‘cha?”

“I-I thought... m-maybe it would be beneficial to have an outsiders perspective on the Neo World Programme... s-so I designed a bug-sweeping tool and disguised it was a video game, and gave it to one of my friends. That way, while I also worked on debugging the system, any oversights I made might get picked up by Chiaki.”

Oh... well, that wasn’t very useful information. “Wait... Miu said you made that thing by chance though? What was it originally made for?”

Miu took the lead this time. “A few months ago, Yasuke got me to create a bunch of screens for that big boy!” Hajime couldn’t see, but he imagined she was pointing at the NWP, and the huge TV screen that sat on the front. “We weren’t really sure what size we wanted, so I created a bunch and we tried ‘em all out. And can you imagine, bigger was better! Ha-ha-HA!” She must really like to hear the sound of her own voice for her to laugh at her own bad jokes so often. “I didn’t want any of the other screens I’d made to just sit around gathering dust, so I made a bunch of shit out of them. You know all those monitors that went up in a bunch of the classrooms recently? All me, baby! And I obviously turned one of the tiny ones into a hand held console.”

Again, that wasn’t really all that helpful... not for solving the case anyway. However, that story was surprisingly revealing of something else. “Huh... so you were the one who made those things? They’ve been much better at doing school wide announcements than that old intercom system did...” It was almost as if... Miu had done something for the sake of others... Wasn’t this cupping thing the same way too? Hajime had mostly ignored it due to Miu’s vulgar pitch, but wasn’t this new invention he was testing supposed to be used for the benefit of others as well? Maybe they were just flukes but... it shone a different light on Miu. A much more favourable one than she made for herself normally. And there was one last thing... “You made that console, right? Why did you give it to Chihiro?”

“Hmm? That’s a good p-point Hajime, you never did tell me why Miu...” So Chihiro didn’t know either? She sounded even more curious than Hajime, and rightfully so. 

Miu, on the other hand, suddenly switched into her cowardly and defensive mode. “H-huh? What do you mean, ‘why’? I-I d-didn’t even give it to you, you j-just... you just happened upon it and I let you have it!”

“... no I didn’t. You g-gave it to me, r-remember?”

“N-no...! I-I didn’t...! I mean...!” Even for Miu’s usually floundering, this was astoundingly outrageous. But it did clear up something for Hajime: Miu most likely just made something for Chihiro out of the kindness of her heart. 

By all means, Miu was a walking disaster of innuendo and offensive commentary, but underneath that may lie a genuinely nice person... of all the things to learn today, that wasn’t quite what he’d expected. He wasn’t going to complain though, it just meant that he was understanding Miu a little better. Before he thought that might’ve been a bad thing- now though... perhaps he’d been too quick to judge her. 

‘You feel like your bond with Miu has grown deeper...’

The Miu Iruma Social Link has reached Rank 3.

“... what the fuck are you three doing?” All three of their heads whipped towards the door to see Yasuke standing there, a combination of confusion and disgust warping his facial features. 

“What does it fuckin’ look like Yasuke?! We’re changin’ the world by cupping the shit out of Hajime!” 

If he could, Hajime would have shaken his head in dismay. “Miu... please stop talking...”

The time had come. 

The school courtyard was empty, aside from Makoto and Kyoko. If Makoto hadn’t felt so nervous just standing face to face with her, he would have wiped his sweaty palm clean on his jacket, or leg. Somehow, he was so nervous that his compulsion to not move a muscle overpowered the desire to not be clammy. 

He knew what he was going to say. The only problem was if Kyoko would see right through it or not. 

“Makoto. I’d like to apologise to you.”

“I... sorry, what?” Kyoko’s words had completely caught him off guard. He didn’t know what to say... and she surely knew that. 

“I questioned you the morning after you’d been quite seriously hurt. I should not have expected you to be in the right mind to answer questions, especially ones with so severe of implications for you. I should’ve let you rest, but instead I was more interested in my answers than your well-being. So... I’m sorry.”

Left speechless, Makoto simply stared at Kyoko, his mouth silently opening, though no words left his parted lips. Her sincere apology had shaken his resolve. Even after that, he was intent on keeping secrets from her...

“So now, I’ll ask you once again Makoto. What is your connection to these crimes?” Her tone was significantly less stern than usual, much softer and accommodating. Perhaps she’d realised how nervous Makoto was- she was trying to make him feel comfortable before he spoke. 

Whether that was working or not, Makoto couldn’t say. He gulped down his lingering anxieties, and prepared himself to tell Kyoko his lie. “It’s true that I did seek out Tenko after I heard she went missing. I thought she might be able to tell me something that could help with your investigation. When I asked her about it, she said she couldn’t remember anything, except for the fact that she’d woken up around Hope’s Peak.” There was no way Kyoko would buy this, he was sweating so profusely that it was a dead giveaway. Still, he couldn’t just stop now. This was the decision he’d made. “By chance, we happened to overhear some students talking about how Hiyoko had gone missing, so we went out to find her. We looked around the campus for a while, and we found her out behind the school building. Uh, that was when I broke my arm. Since it was nighttime, it was pretty hard to see, and I kinda gave Tenko a bit of a scare... which... well...” He tilted his head down towards his sling. “I’m sorry I kept this from you... I... I wanted to be useful to you, and I felt like dead weight otherwise... I guess I just ended up causing you trouble...”

Kyoko remained in silence for quite some time, clearly thinking with her hand to her chin. That silence only made Makoto more tense, anxiety rekindling inside of him. Would she see through him? His lie wasn’t perfect, but it had to have been plausible, right?

“... okay. Thank you Makoto.” Uttering those simple words, Kyoko turned on her heels, and began to walk away. But then she stopped, and without looking back to him, delivered her final words. “... I hope your recovery is a quick one.”

When she was out of earshot, Makoto released a sigh so powerful he thought he might’ve just deflated his lungs. He had been absolutely certain that she was going to call him out on his lie... apparently not though. 

But... the fact that she didn’t only made him feel worse about lying in the first place. 

Kyoko doubted she’d gotten the whole truth from Makoto, but it wasn’t impossible for his story to be accurate. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the resources at her disposal to keep a constant eye on him to corroborate his story for her. 

The fact that she had to doubt Makoto wasn’t one she was happy about, and yet she had no other choice. Taking anything at face value for this case was a mistake.

Another student would go missing soon. Of that, she had little doubt. Perhaps then she could test to see if Makoto had been truthful...

Shuichi’s hand trembled as it hovered over Mahiru’s door knob. An unmistakable anxiety was bubbling in his chest. He wasn’t sure what he’d find; he hoped it was nothing, and yet finding anything could prove paramount for his investigation. 

Gulping down his terror, he gently pushed the door open. 

Inside, everything was as he and Mahiru had left it after he’d moved her into Hiyoko’s dorm room. Well... except for the three additions he’d added to the room a few days ago. 

There was something horrifically bittersweet to what he found in Mahiru’s room. The cameras he had planted... all three... had been smashed beyond use. Chances were high he wouldn’t even be able to retrieve any of the pictures they had taken. But that was fine, since for anything to have happened with them confirmed both his hypothesis true... and Mahiru’s nightmares a reality. 

Someone had been coming into Mahiru’s room at night. Several times. Why? For what purpose? He wasn’t sure. But someone had been. And considering that they’d smashed the cameras, they certainly weren’t paying her a friendly visit. 

At the very least, this should have been evidence enough for him to receive permission to do a forensic investigation of the dorm. He’d find out whoever was breaking into Mahiru’s room... and that may even lead him to the mysterious killer.


	37. Chapter 35

Wednesday, May 15th

Stiff as a wooden board. That’s what Hiyoko had felt as if she’d been sleeping like the past few nights, ever since Mahiru had moved in. Actually, ‘sleeping’ was too generous of a term. 

Every night had been the same routine. As soon as she’d gotten into bed, she’d suddenly become too nervous to sleep. Mahiru clearly wasn’t having the same issue, she always fell asleep without any problems, but considering the fact that she spent most of the day confined to bed anyway, it was probably silly to think she’d have trouble drifting off.

Selfishly, Hiyoko wished that Mahiru had the same trouble sleeping as she did. But for the same reason that she struggled? Well, it would be much better than because of nightmares...

Hiyoko knew about those nightmares that Mahiru had been having. And yet, ever since Mahiru had joined her, not a single nightmare... not one. Hiyoko obviously didn’t want her to have nightmares... but being kept awake all night by herself wasn’t what she thought of as an ideal situation. 

Her small fingers clawed at her cheeks, slightly tugging down the skin below her eyes. She was being ridiculous... still though... why wouldn’t her heart just slow down? Just stop pounding in her ears all night, every night...

Usually, Hiyoko would end up just watching Mahiru sleep. After being separated for so long, she adored simply having the opportunity to look at Mahiru’s again. The face she’d missed so much... whenever she was sleeping, she looked so peaceful. Like nothing was wrong in the world... like nothing bad had ever happened to her. At least, that’s what Hiyoko saw in the relative darkness of her room. 

Studying Mahiru’s pale face... listening out for her soft snores... constantly checking that a steady breath was passing between her slightly parted lips... That was the sort of thing Hiyoko accidentally spent hours of her night doing. However... doing so also reminded her of the night she’d seen Mahiru out of her room for the first time in so long... and her eyes would instinctually roam back down to Mahiru lips. Her pink... her soft...

That was when Hiyoko would turn over. Or just spin her head to stare at her roof. Depended on how she was laying. But even if her position changed, her own reaction was always the same- an uncomfortable heat spreading over her body, and the acceleration of her heart beat.

The same thing had happened tonight. Or, this morning, really. And now Hiyoko lay wide awake, staring up at her roof... just like the last few nights.

A soft rustle alerted Hiyoko to something happening, distracting her from her staring, but nothing in the world could have prepared her for the arm that draped itself over her stomach. Although her mouth was drawn into a shaky line, the voice in her head was screaming wildly. With what emotion? She wasn’t quite sure, but the fact that she instinctually tried to sink into her mattress must have meant that her fight or flight was kicking in... right? In no way was it healthy to be reacting as she did every night, so it must be because of some kind of danger. Right?

Even so, Hiyoko found herself staring intently at her best friends hand. The hand who’s fingers curled ever so slightly, almost like an open invitation to... to...

Nervously, Hiyoko slipped her fingers between Mahiru’s. Why was she having this reaction? She held Mahiru’s hand all the time before... maybe that was it then. Maybe their time apart had changed something. Or more like reset something. Like their relationship had to start over because of Mahiru’s isolation...

Relationship...

Just thinking the word made Hiyoko’s heart patter erratically. Yet, in spite of that, she found herself wishing that the night would last a little longer. 

Turning her head, Hiyoko watched Mahiru once again. Watched her mouth, the corners of which had begun to turn up. She must be having a nice dream. 

A short exhale passed through Hiyoko’s own mouth. For the first time since she’d started sharing her bed with Mahiru, Hiyoko let herself relax, allowed herself to be drawn into an embrace that was never intentionally offered to her. She’d had to let go of Mahiru’s hand to do so, but that still meant that Mahiru’s arm was around her, protecting her as Hiyoko slid ever closer. 

There was a boundary she was breaking, she knew that all too well. She didn’t know what Mahiru thought about this, if she’d be okay with it or not... and yet Hiyoko carried on. 

She’d never felt so conflicted about enjoying a warm embrace from her best friend. Even if she didn’t really want to stop.

Watching Angie paint was certainly an... experience. 

Hajime had quickly realised that the only time he’d ever had the chance to even see her paint was during Golden Week, and back then he’d been too busy worrying about if Tenko would drop him than whatever the other three girls had been doing. There was that one other time as well, when he told Tenko about his interrogation; he was obviously more focused on that than Angie. Still... there was no way he couldn’t have noticed this...

Every brush stroke was accompanied by an... interesting noise, to say the least. Apparently this was all a part of Atua’s guidance, or influence, or whatever other word Angie had decided to use today. 

In spite of how uncomfortable the whole situation made him, he just couldn’t look away. It probably went without saying, but Angie’s skill as an artist was phenomenal. 

Today, Hajime was simply on paint mixing duties, which he had initially thought might not have been a good call on Angie’s part; considering the fact that she had closed her eyes for the entire duration of her painting though, his aid was pretty vital. 

In saying that, even without the use of her eyes, Angie could paint with perfect precision. Whatever she was creating was clearly abstract, and even then Hajime could tell that it was an impressive work. How not a single colour overlapped with another, no colours clashed on the canvas, every line, splash, and explosion of paint came together to create something unspeakably astounding, impossibly impressive, absolutely-

“Oh, well that’s disappointing.” Angie’s curt self criticism abruptly halted all of Hajime’s internal praise. 

“I’m sorry, what? Angie, I don’t know much about art, but even I know that what you just did was amazing.”

Angie didn’t turn to face him, instead she just hummed to herself. “No no no, it is not amazing. What would even make you say such a thing?”

Were Angie’s standards just impossibly high or something? “Well... I dunno... talking about art is pretty hard since it’s all subjective, but you know when you just know what you’re seeing is good? That’s what I was feeling when I was watching you paint. You did a great job Angie.”

“Oh, I see. You are misunderstanding Hajime,” Angie spun on her heels, a gleeful smile radiating her face. It was almost hard to look at... like it wasn’t real, like it was artificially powered, or something like that... “To most people, I’m sure this would seem like a good piece. But I personally think it is bad because it didn’t turn out like Atua wanted it to.”

Atua again. That name always seemed to pop up with Angie. He understood so much as that Atua was a god, but he didn’t know much more than that. “What does Atua have to do with this? Isn’t it good enough for you to be happy with your artwork?”

His seemingly harmless question struck a chord with Angie, a sinister shadow flicking across her brow. “Oh? Hajime, don’t tell me... do you not understand Atua? I am not the one who creates all this art, Atua is. Atua guides my brush like He guides my life.” As Angie began to hug herself, Hajime noticed that she avoided touching anywhere near her ribs. She must still be hurting then... “Would you like to learn more about Atua, Hajime? I really think you should...”

With maybe the exception of Makoto, every Ultimate that Hajime had met was weird in some way, shape, or form. He actually thought Angie was similar to Makoto, if a tad eccentric, though when it came to this Atua stuff... it sent chills down his spine. Something about it all was just wrong. But he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t interested at all... “I have a funny feeling that my answer wouldn’t really matter...”

The forceful chuckle Angie gave him did more than a good enough job at clearing that up. “Now then, let’s start with the basics, yes? Atua is the God of my island, and I am his voice on Earth. Atua would communicate with my fellow islanders through me, and every week they would bring to me an offering for Atua.”

Oh... so this whole Atua business was a cultural thing? It wasn’t like any modern religion he’d ever heard of though... “Angie? Where do you come from?”

“Where do I come from? My island, obviously!”

“Yeah, but... where is your island...?”

“On the sea.”

She wasn’t going to give him a straight answer, was she? Why was she being so difficult? “Okay then... what religion do you practise?”

Surprisingly, Angie stopped to think about that. Did she really not know the name of the religion she practised? She’s like an oracle, and yet she has no idea what religion she practises? “Hmm... I dunno. We never gave it a name. I didn’t even know that there were other religions until I came to Japan.”

To not even know the name of your own religion... well, by the sounds of it, Angie’s home was very isolated, so when your culture is the only one that exists, do you really need a name for things? It just... happens. It’s a part of everyday life...

Regardless of that though, Hajime was getting nowhere with this line of conversation. So instead he shifted into something else he’d been curious about. “You know Angie, Tenko has been helping you out a lot lately... don’t you think you might be taking up too much of her time?”

“Whaaaaat? Of course not! Tenko is just like any other person on my island. She has happily devoted herself to helping me help Atua.” Something about that didn’t sit right with Hajime. It must’ve been the way Angie said it... like that was just an excuse to boss Tenko around. What, did Angie have some sort of power complex? 

Was it really his place to doubt her though? He might just be being too suspicious of her... but he was friends with Tenko too, if Angie was just using her...

But Tenko isn’t the type who would submit to being used by someone else, was she? But Tenko would absolutely help someone unconditionally, of her own free will, so maybe Angie was just taking it the wrong way...? Damn, this was an oddly complex situation, or one he might’ve just made up in his own head. 

“Really? Either way, don’t you think you might be accepting her help too often? Like... you could just tell her no once in a while...”

Angie clapped her hands above her head. The smile she bore was beginning to become kind of unnerving... “Who am I to deny her devotion? Atua says that you probably just don’t understand because you don’t believe. It’s never to late to start Hajime, why not join us?” Certainly unnerving...

Everyone else he’d gotten to know recently had shown some side to themselves that Hajime could use to understand them better, accidental or not, and yet the more he spoke to Angie, the more weird and mysterious she became. Perhaps you could say that was part of her ‘charm’? It did make him want to learn more about her after all...

‘You feel like your bond with Angie has grown deeper...’

The Angie Yonaga Social Link has reached Rank 3

According to the legends, the screech of Nekomaru’s whistle was loud enough to rupture ear drums. Tenko never really heard it though, the sound of her heart pounding in her ears after unloading on training dummies always had been and always would be the loudest thing she ever heard in the gym. 

Recently, that pounding had only become louder; she’d been pushing herself even harder than usual, all because Himiko sometimes came by to watch. All for Himiko...

That picture Himiko had made really shouldn’t have surprised her. After all, it was all her own fault that Himiko would, in any way, view her as a superhero, what with the lengths she’d push her body to just to impress Himiko. Tenko would have been delighted if that reputation was at all earned...

Today was going to be the day. In that moment, she’d decided. Today was going to be the day she’d tell Himiko that she was the one who injured Angie. They weren’t going to leave the gym until she had.

“Nyeh... you work too hard...” Himiko held out a towel to Tenko, which she happily took to dry her face, slinging it around her neck when she was done. “Heh, maybe you’re right... heh-heh...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

The ensuing silence was completely normal for Himiko, Tenko was well aware that the mage wasn’t a conversationalist. On her own end though... Tenko could probably count on one hand the amount of times she’d been either this stressed or tense. And the last time was pretty similar to this one...

But that didn’t matter! Tenko couldn’t let it matter, not now. Not this time. She couldn’t flake out on this again. “H-hey... Himiko... listen, there’s somethin’ I need to talk to you about... a-about Angie... I-“

“Yeah... I know...”

“Y-you... you know...?” Tenko wasn’t so sure how to describe what her body felt like in that moment. It was like being punched in the gut and being strangled at the same time.

Himiko nodded. She wasn’t having any sort of reaction... maybe because she already knew and had time to think about it? So then why had Himiko made an effort to get closer with her recently? There’s no way Himiko would want to be friends with someone who hurt Angie. “Yeah, I know what you’re gonna say. I’ve been wanting to talk to Angie about it... she’s been making you work too much for her recently...”

Oh... Himiko didn’t know... 

Something clicked at that moment for Tenko- what she’d suddenly begun feeling, it was guilt and shame. The return of what she’d felt when she last tried to confess what she’d done to Himiko. “N-no, Himiko... It’s something else...” She could feel her mouth becoming dry as she stuttered the words out. But this had to be done, no matter what, she’d let it lay quiet for too long at this point. 

Himiko didn’t respond verbally, she simply tilted her head curiously, half lidded eyes staring right through Tenko. That’s what it felt like anyway. “So... well, what I want to tell you is... I uhhh...” Why was this so difficult? Was it really so simple as that she just didn’t want to disappoint Himiko? Was it more that this was basically an admittance that she’d let herself down? Did the reason why even matter?

No, it shouldn’t. There was no time to back down anymore. Even if she’d regret it now, she’d regret it even more if she never told Himiko. “Angie didn’t just happen to break her ribs... I was the one who did it. B-by accident, I swear, I-I challenged her to an Aikido match, but a ton of people showed up, and then I got really nervous, and then she surprised me while I was thinking, or, uh, more like panicking and... and... H-Himiko...?” The words had come out in a torrent, but Tenko was sure Himiko had gotten it all. Yet she was just standing there... the exact same as before. Granted she’d always been hard to read; still though, why wasn’t she getting angry? Even just a little upset... and why was this bothering Tenko? Surely this was what she wanted, right? For Himiko to not get mad at her... “... Himiko?”

When she reached out a hand, Himiko flinched back. That single act was enough to crush Tenko’s spirit. Himiko wasn’t just staring off into space anymore. She was looking at her feet. “I’m... I’m gonna go back to the dorms now... y-you don’t need to hurry, I’ll head straight back by myself...”

Tenko had never seen Himiko move so quickly, darting towards the exit of the gym. 

Himiko had just ran away from her...

Perhaps it had been a blessing that Tenko had just finished her exercises for the day, still on her adrenaline high, she couldn’t muster up any tears. No matter how much her chest heaved, or her heart hurt, not a single tear fell from her eyes. 

Maybe this is exactly what she deserved. This was her penance for being a coward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long, it’s been crazy hot this week, and that really put a hamper on my ability to sit down and write this, not to mention editing it. It’s coming down, so I don’t think the next chapter will take so long, but if it does take over half a week again, you now know why.


	38. Chapter 36

Thursday, May 16th

In spite of Sonia’s promise to stop being so meddlesome, Hajime once again found himself being dragged around by her, quite literally this time too. He’d been on his way to the tech lab when she ambushed him, saying something about the garden on the fifth floor, and started pulling him by the wrist. Her grip was deceptively strong for someone who looked fairly delicate. 

He probably should have suspected who would be up there, considering Sonia’s excitement. Gundham was standing by what looked like a chicken coop. Though he was somehow not the most bizarre looking thing in the garden. 

Again, it was probably something Hajime should have expected, but the garden was beautifully lush, exotic plants grew from every corner, yet remained expertly contained as to leave paths to walk on. Specialist rooms in Hope’s Peak also seemed to favour adorning the very centre of themselves with the most eye catching thing- a single, enormous flower in full bloom towered over everything else in the garden. It’s sheer size probably would have made it quite off putting if not for its warm colouration. 

Thinking about it, Hajime remembered that even the gardens outside of the school were very well kept, certainly not as exotic as this room, but still very pretty, the gardens around the central fountain immediately came to mind, with their colourful flowers and neatly trimmed hedges. It probably wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that there was an Ultimate Botanist who was responsible for that...

Although, that did pose the question of why a chicken coop was kept in here. Surely if Hope’s Peak could afford this, they could afford a room dedicated to animals and the talents that related to them. 

That coop must have been why Gundham was up here in the first place, which Hajime assumed based on the fact that there were a bunch of animals in Gundham’s room. Presumably, his talent had something to do with animals. 

“Hello Gundham! I brought Hajime along with me today, if you don’t mind,” Sonia called out to Gundham. She asked whether or not he’d mind, but since Hajime was already here, it seemed kind of pointless. 

When Gundham turned to face them, he did so with a grand flourish of his arms, his purple scarf whipping around in a non-existent breeze. “Ah, Dark Princess! I see you have brought the mortal sacrifice!”

“Wait, what?!” When Hajime tried to pull his wrist from Sonia’s grasp, her already iron grip tightened, and the smile she gave him adopted a much more ominous implication. Then again, after his last encounter with these two together, he knew that there wasn’t any real danger- these two were just flamboyant over-actors. Still... that didn’t make the idea of being a sacrifice was any less frightening. 

“Come, mortal, you have been chosen by your dark lords to partake in our ritual to pacify the harbingers of destruction!” Bellowing his usual brand of theatrics, Gundham tossed a bag at Hajime, hitting his chest. He just barely managed to catch it, and when he did he realised that it was... a bag of chicken feed? Hang on... was this ‘ritual’... feeding some chickens?

Sonia quickly answered that unspoken question. “Go on Hajime! Do you not wish to aid Gundham in his daily feeding? I have no doubt it will be quite the bonding experience. I know how boys enjoy their manly bonding times!”

Even when Sonia didn’t slip in unwarranted or dated slang, she still sounded pretty ridiculous... “Sonia... I don’t think that male bonding... oh, forget it. Sure, I’ll help.” Hajime could only imagine that Sonia was pushing him to ‘deepen his bonds’ by doing this, but she’d said she wouldn’t interfere anymore... was there a reason she was trying to get him to bond with Gundham in particular?

While Hajime was thinking about that, Gundham had taken one of the chickens out of the coop, cradling it in his arms. And when he did, Hajime saw something new in Gundham... the way he looked at the bird, smiled at it... all his ‘icy evil’ had melted away instantaneously, an almost maternal aura emanating from him. “What are doing standing around for? Come, fool? The beasts hunger...!” Nothing could shatter his speech though, huh?

Sonia gave Hajime a little nudge, which finally got him moving. “So... what do you want me to do? Just hold some of the feed in my hand?”

“Tch!” Gundham scoffed at Hajime, rolling his eyes. “As expected of one with so pathetic an astral level! Allow me to demonstrate how to feed demons. As one of the lowest tiered members of my hellish forces, you ought to learn your place as nought but a simple provider for the beasts of hell!” Considering that Hajime thought Gundham liked animals, he sure did grant them demonic titles a lot... since he calls Hajime a mortal, maybe it’s supposed to be endearing of the animals then? Because Hajime was clearly the ‘lowest ranked’ thing in Gundham’s immediate vicinity. 

Upon striking forth a bandaged hand, Hajime poured some of the feed he was holding into Gundham’s plam, which he then brought to the beak of the chicken under his other arm. “There... now feast!” As if following his commands, the chicken pecked at the feed as soon as Gundham had finished his cry, not a moment before or after. It was actually pretty impressive. 

“Wow... you have quite a way with animals Gundham. You must really like them.”

“Hmm... but of course.” Alright, maybe there was something that could curb Gundham’s erratic use of language- he was incredibly calm when feeding the chicken. “I am simply fulfilling my role as the Ultimate Breeder.”

Ultimate Breeder? That... made a lot of sense based on his handling of animals. That must’ve been why he had an animal like a tiger in his room, he bred it himself! If that was true... Gundham really was incredible. “... it shows. You handle animals like a pro.”

“Keh! It is not a skill exclusive to demon lords like myself...” Despite Gundham’s choice of words remaining tonally consistent, his actual voice sounded almost melancholic. 

When Gundham was tending to his animals, he really was a different person. A person Hajime was quite interested in getting to know. 

‘You feel like your bond with Gundham has grown deeper...’

The Gundham Tanaka Social Link has reached Rank 2.

“Now it is your turn. Remove one of the beasts from their confines, and treat her to a meal neither of you shall ever forget!” Hajime wasn’t entirely sure what that meant... but he certainly wasn’t going to forget this event any time soon. 

As soon as he reached in for a chicken, and pulled one most of the way out of the coop, it suddenly started flapping its wings, breaking free of his hands. The last thing Hajime remembered clearly was the impact of its beak against his head... over and over...

Damn it Sonia... why did she always disappear when he actually needed her?

Compared to when Chiaki had last seen the team together, they all looked... so much worse... not heroic at all. 

Sure, she’d already seen Makoto in his sling, but Hajime had turned up to her dorm covered in tiny cuts and bruises (and she was pretty sure she’d seen a feather of two in his hair), and both Hiyoko and Tenko looked absolutely exhausted. Chiaki had been witness to Hiyoko’s steady decline in alertness during registration, the bags under her eyes seemed to get worse everyday, but... Tenko was easily the worst off. Whenever Chiaki usually saw her, Tenko was full of life and energy, she was loud, proud, and wore her heart on her sleeve. Now she looked downright lifeless, all the vibrancy drained from her eyes. But it wasn’t as if Chiaki knew her super well anyway... maybe she could be like this sometimes... she’d largely only interacted with her through the eyes of Usami after all.

Makoto must have noticed how off everyone was as well, asking “Hey, are you guys all okay?” to which Hiyoko just grunted and Hajime waved him off with a mumbled “I don’t wanna talk about it...”

All eyes turned to Tenko when she didn’t respond. Not even a whisper. 

It was upsetting to watch. Chiaki couldn’t help but see the same thing in Tenko that she’d seen in so many of her classmates over the past month, especially Hiyoko. Thanks to that, she was feeling incredibly guilty about why she’d asked to have everyone over. There was no way she could beg them to take her into the NWP with them, it would be too insensitive right now...

Unfortunately, abandoning that plan created a problem... one that Hiyoko quickly brought to her attention. “C’mon Chiaki... why’d you get us all here? This better be important, or I’ll... bop you on the head for wasting my time.”

Chiaki stifled a gasp. A ‘bop’? That sounded deadly, especially coming from Hiyoko! Thinking on her feet, Chiaki tired to come up with another excuse for why she’d want to meet them all... 

It wasn’t working. She couldn’t think of anything. 

“Chiaki? Are you okay? It looks like you’re sweating... a lot...” Makoto’s voice rose above her internal panic, which only worsened the overdrive her brain had been pushed into as she scrambled around for an answer. 

“I’m fine... I think. I just wanted to ask you guys something...” Why would she say that?! That would imply that she actually had a preprepared topic for discussion! And now she’d teed herself up to ask it...!

Looking back on Tenko, her gloom ironically light something up inside Chiaki’s head. A way to change this from a wholly selfish endeavour, to a kindly one. “... would you all like to meet up this Sunday? Like... for a team bonding sort of thing...”

“That sounds nice, I’m up for it. What about the rest of you?” With a bright grin, Makoto turned to the other three expectantly. 

“... sure, it couldn’t hurt. It might be nice to all spend some time together outside of the NWP.” Hajime was on board too. This sudden decision seemed to be working out! But would it even matter if...

“Ugh... I’ll see. If I’m not busy, I might show up. But if it’s lame, I won’t hesitate to ditch you all.” And Hiyoko was in too. Tenko though...

Chiaki walked over to her, giving her cheek a little prod with an index finger. Tenko’s eyes shifted slightly towards Chiaki, still lacking in expression. “Tenko... will you join us? It wouldn’t be right if our leader wasn’t there too...”

“Yeah!” Makoto chimed in. “There wouldn’t be a point in us coming together as a group if we aren’t all there. Please?”

The only indication that Tenko was even with them was that her eyes were constantly drifting between Chiaki and Makoto. Her silence was agonising, enough so that Makoto’s happy-go-lucky smile slowly faded away. Chiaki felt quite crestfallen herself, it hurt to see anyone so reticent, so someone as vibrant as Tenko to be like this...

“... I’ll come...”

It came out as a whisper, aimed at nought but the air, yet she still spoke. The victory was bittersweet at best, however; it was great that she’d spoken out, but for Tenko’s voice in particular to be so cold and emotionless at any given time...

It wasn’t just Chiaki who was affected by it either, everyone, even Hiyoko, was put off by the uncharacteristic dullness. Something really bad must’ve happened to her... what could they do about it though? 

Maybe they’d just have to wait until Sunday to remind her of her usual self. Hopefully she wouldn’t even be like this by then... but Chiaki couldn’t think of anything else to do. 

She should’ve though. Chiaki felt that she should’ve had an answer. She was the class rep for the senior class in Hope’s Peak, she should be one of the people best at helping other students. And yet, she could do nothing. 

That sentiment seemed to run high through the others too. Except... except for Hajime. With his brow furrowed, eyes slightly squinted, determination was written in his light eyes. 

Maybe... he had a plan?

“... just what I’d expect from the lancer.” When she said it, only Hajime seemed to hear her; he blinked back cluelessly, a gesture she returned with a good natured smile. 

“... and that’s all I’ve got Kyoko. I know it’s not much, but it’s at least something, right? I just don’t really know what to make of it.”

When Shuichi had approached Kyoko with the results from his little experiment in Mahiru’s room, she’d been quite surprised. He hadn’t let on at all that he’d planned anything like that. That was good- he was learning.

“Hmm... there’s very little to go off of, regardless of the success of your efforts.” Despite being alone in their interrogation room, they both spoke in whispers. By this point in the case, being careless wasn’t an option for them. Every precaution had to be taken at every possible moment. “If anything, this all sounds like a failed murder attempt. Maybe our attacker lost their nerve when trying to strike Mahiru in her own room, despite how unlikely that sounds. Or perhaps this is someone entirely unrelated. There’s simply no way to know.”

“... I figured.” Shuichi was clearly dejected, and Kyoko couldn’t blame him. To have your ideas turn out worthless in the end, under any circumstances, hurt; under their current circumstances, Shuichi must’ve been reeling from his disappointment. 

“It’s fine Shuichi. We can try other things.”

“Like? Do you have any ideas of what we could do next?”

“Yes. I do.” Kyoko could feel his apprehensive gaze on her, even from under his hat. “Unfortunately, it’s a last resort I never wanted to fall back on. There is no doubt in my mind that our attacker will strike again, and I think it will be sooner rather than later. The night after it happens, we’re going to investigate every inch of this school.”

“H-huh? Why? Kyoko, what do you expect to find?” If he hadn’t been sceptical, she would have been rather concerned. It was a good thing he was becoming hesitant to just go along with everything she said. 

“I’ve been led to believe that we may find a clue at that time. Potentially something even greater.”

“You do? Do you really believe so?”

“... I’m not sure. But I can’t leave this unchecked.” Kyoko wanted to trust Makoto. She truly did. And yet... she shouldn’t. Under no circumstances should she be giving anyone special treatment, especially not on a case like this. Even so... the thought of Makoto lying to her... it was only a tiny bit, but it hurt her. 

It... hurt her?

“Kyoko... can we really afford to wait that long? We don’t k-know when the next attack will be, or if there even will be one...! We can’t... we can’t...”

Kyoko sighed, shaking her head. “I understand Shuichi, but this situation isn’t as simple as looking over a crime scene for clue. It never has been. We’ve been fools to think it was. Short of anything drastic, we’ve exhausted our options.”

Shuichi fell silent. Turning from her, he plodded to the door. She fully expected him to not be comfortable with her plan- unfortunately that was just the attitude of a detective with premature sense of justice.


	39. Chapter 37

Friday, 17th May

Hajime’s hand shook as he reached out. His fingers tensed so hard that they were beginning to cramp. His throat was dry, and he could feel his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth. 

Celeste’s cold, red eyes stared unblinkingly over the top of her hand of cards, giving absolutely nothing away. Even when Hajime clasped his fingers around one of her cards, her eyes didn’t even drift down to see what he’d picked; her unrelenting gaze... remained unrelenting. Hajime should’ve seen that coming- he was learning how to develop a poker face from her, of course she’d be a master at it. 

When he flipped the card he’d picked out over... “Damn it! I always pick out the joker on my first turn... how do you do that?”

“I do nothing special. I am simply lucky,” was her response. Sure, a likely story. Not even Makoto could be this consistently lucky... They had played Old Maid at least six times this morning, and whenever Hajime didn’t start with the joker, he’d end up with it after his first turn. And, naturally, he’d never lose it. Of course, the same was true of this game. 

Groaning in defeat, Hajime let his head roll back as Celeste lightly chuckled. A small hand landed on his shoulder, patting it a few times, comfortingly. “T-that’s too bad Hajime... I-I’m sure you’ll get a l-little closer next time...!” Chihiro had joined the two as a spectator this time, and she’d bore witness to every crushing defeat. Hajime appreciated that she was trying to make him feel a bit better, but it always ended up rubbing salt into his wounds when he’d turn around a lose again. 

“Ugh... how do you do it Celeste? You beat me soundly every single time!”

Celeste didn’t even look at him while she gathered her deck of cards, shuffling them. “Oh? I believe you wanted to learn bluffing tactics, not game theory. I intend only to tutor you in one art, not both.” 

“Then... can you tell me what you did to bluff me into losing?” Hajime was just about at his wits end. Losing repeatedly was always annoying, but this was especially so considering he felt like he was learning nothing. 

A pale hand rose to cover Celeste’s mouth. “It is not very complicated. In fact, I believe you already noticed the difference between myself and you.” When Hajime didn’t respond, Celeste continued. “Any good player can read eyes. You need to learn to control your body completely. Resist the temptation to even look at the cards your opponent is picking out, regardless of whether or not the card they chose is valuable to you. And that of course applies outside of a simple game like Old Maid.” Celeste raised a finger, adorned with some kind of metal... claw... accessory, and beckoned Chihiro to sit down. “We shall try again Hajime. This time with three of us. Try and apply yourself.”

Hajime knew damn well that he was already trying; Celeste’s jibe only annoyed him even more. Which perhaps explained how easily both Celeste and Chihiro destroyed him, he was just getting too irrationally emotional to play well. 

Not even Chihiro could console him after his final display of astounding lack of skill, she only offered him a sympathetic smile at his loss. “Oh for-! I’m never going to get this...”

Celeste once again avoided looking at him as she shuffled her deck, sliding it back into its little box. “Hmm. Hajime.” Her short and snappy words instantly drew him and his attention in by their stern and cold tone. “You have quite a serious problem, one you need to overcome if you wish to win games, let alone master them. You need to let go of your self-doubt.”

Hajime had not at all expected Celeste of all people to pull the ‘believe in yourself’ card- it didn’t suit her at all. “What good is that gonna do me?”

“If you believe in yourself, you will believe in your abilities. If you believe in your abilities, you will trust them more. Trusting in your abilities will make you trust your ability to win. And so on, and so forth. Do you understand?” Yeah, he kind of did, but the way her eyes widened as she leaned forward when she said it made the whole talk sound more like a threat than talk of encouragement. That certainly fit Celeste much better...

Although, Hajime had to admit, Celeste was probably right. He had no faith in his abilities, especially when compared to Celeste. Maybe a part of him had given up before he’d even tried because of that belief. That was certainly a skill he’d need to master- giving up before he’d started, in his current line of ‘work’... that could be the difference between someone dying and surviving. A grim thought. 

“O-oh, Hajime! I-it’s nearly time for morning registration! Y-you should get going!” Chihiro’s little pleas shook him out of his own head. Right, he needed to go back to the Reserve Course now. But when he stood up, Chihiro muttered something else too. “U-umm... c-could you come by the t-tech lab... t-t-today...! At lunch...”

Her request was bashful, stuttered out from a cherry red face. What was the matter? Why was she acting this way? Was Chihiro embarrassed about something? If so, why ask him about it?

Regardless, he wasn’t going to turn her down. “Yeah, sure. I’ll come by at lunch. I’ll see you then.” As he headed off in a hurry, he could feel Chihiro’s nervous glances still on his back. Just like they had been on Tuesday too... it was oddly uncomfortable. Like she was analysing him, or something. 

As promised, when lunch time came around, Hajime ventured over to the tech lab, where he found Chihiro outside the door, wringing her small hands. “H-Hajime! You came!”

She sounded surprised, had she really thought he wouldn’t show? Ouch... “Of course I did. So, uh, what is it that you wanted? And... why aren’t we inside?” He pointed a thumb at the door. 

“Why? Oh, well, Miu is inside and... I don’t want her to... t-to know about...” Chihiro’s nervousness only seemed to get worse as she prepared herself to talk, her feet shifting around on the spot. “I-I umm... well I... I-I hope I d-don’t sound t-too forward when I s-say this b-but... ahhhhh...” Chihiro buried her head in her hands, yet Hajime could still see the red glow that had engulfed her entire head. What exactly was she trying to ask him? She was acting as if... almost as if she was about to ask him out?! No, she wouldn’t... but her nervous behaviour earlier and now did point in that general direction...

“H-hey, if you feel uncomfortable, you don’t have to say it if you don’t want to...” Hajime tried to reassure her, but that seemed to only make things worse, her head shaking fervently. 

“N-no! I have... I have to say this!” Chihiro’s head shot out of her palms, still a beet red, her bottom lip quivering. Eyes clenched shut, she shouted out in her mousy voice. “W-WOULD YOU PLEASE START W-WORKING OUT WITH ME!”

“... huh?” Wait, what? Chihiro wanted to work out together? Why though, he was hardly an athletic guy, hell, he knew for a fact that there were much better choices for a workout partner- he already trained with them.

Chihiro twiddled her fingers. It looked like she was on the verge of tears. “S-so... is that a no then?”

Hajime wasn’t sure if she was doing it on purpose or not, but that look she gave him... you’d have to be heartless reject her offer. “Oh, no no no, I’ll work out with you, I was just surprised is all. I mean... why me?”

Chihiro sighed in relief, a cheerful smile brightening her face again. “Oh, thank goodness. T-to be honest, y-you aren’t the first gym p-partner I’ve had... b-but, with the Neo World Project, and the student council, o-our schedules d-don’t really let us d-do that as much anymore... n-not at school anyway...”

Well, that made some sense. Since he was almost considered an honorary member of the project now, it made logical sense that Chihiro would choose him instead of Miu and Yasuke- and he was certainly the least busy. Still, he had to ask... “Then, why did you ask me? Wouldn’t you prefer to do this with Miu, since you’re both girls?”

As soon as he said that, Chihiro’s face twisted into an expression of loathing... self-loathing. Was she body conscious around Miu, or something? “N-no... I don’t think M-Miu could... besides, I-I think you’d make a good partner for this. You were so brave to h-help out Miu even when y-you didn’t know what she was really going to do to you...! A-and... y-you... sorry about this... b-but your body looked quite manly... when you took your sh-shirt off on Tuesday...”

This time, it was Hajime’s turn to blush. Compliments on his physique weren’t very common, he had a pretty average body, but apparently that was enough for Chihiro. “Oh... ah, ha-ha... alright!” Hajime swallowed down his embarrassment, which was much easier said than done. Both he and Chihiro must’ve been quite the sight, two heads a bright red. “I’d be happy to help work out with you Chihiro. Actually, I was going to head down to the gym after school anyway, would you like to come with me?”

Chihiro eagerly nodded. “Y-yes, I’d be happy to! I-I hope I’m not being an inconvenience to you though...”

“Don’t be ridiculous, you aren’t inconveniencing me at all.” Hajime’s own smile widened as Chihiro’s did. She was another person who’s moods were apparently infectious; which might not be that great considering her skittishness, though when she smiled like she was now... 

This should end up being a very valuable to him too, not just as extra training, but also as a way for him to get to know Chihiro. It had sort of been his goal to make friends with everyone who was a part of the NW Project after all.

Thou art I... And I am thou... Thou hast established a new bond... 

It brings to thee a new hope...

Thou hast been blessed by the Moon Arcana...

The door to the lab burst open, and Miu stumbled out, a cup of some sort tied around her left ear. Her sudden appearance stirred a startled scream from Chihiro, and even Hajime staggered back a few steps. “What the fuck?! That’s what you were gonna fuckin’ ask this dick weed? C’mon, if you wanna get jacked, I’ve got plenty of shit that could help you Cherry Pie! Shit, I thought you were gonna ask to blow ‘im or somethin’!”

If Chihiro didn’t want Miu listening in on them... maybe they should have done this somewhere else entirely. Miu’s nasally laugh mocked their poor planning...

As it turned out, working out with Chihiro was a lot less strenuous as doing anything with Tenko and Sakura. Not to mention it was significantly less scary too. Hajime probably shouldn’t have been surprised considering Chihiro’s stature. 

Chihiro had insisted on just doing some light jogging, as well as stretches, which thankfully wasn’t too much of a challenge for Hajime. It was actually quite nice, to exercise calmly for once. 

So he’d be lying if he said he didn’t suddenly become anxious when Sakura approached the two of them in their little corner of the gym. “I see you two are doing some light training together. That’s good...” Sakura smiled, nodding her head. Hajime wasn’t so sure what was ‘good’ about this, from her point of view, but... should he really question it?

Panting lightly, Chihiro began addressing Sakura. “S-Sakura...! H-hello... y-yes, Hajime and I were just working out t-together... Umm... a-are we doing something wrong...?” She must have assumed Sakura only came over to scold them or something. 

Sakura’s deep voice rumbled in amusement, a short, good natured, laugh bouncing her large shoulders. “Of course not. In fact, I wanted to say that I’m glad the two of you are continuing to train yourselves despite the current circumstances.”

Hajime raised an eyebrow at Sakura. “Hmm? What do you mean?” He and Chihiro shared a curious glance. 

Sakura looked away from them briefly, as if contemplating something. “... I suppose it isn’t anything major. I’m simply saying that I admire the willpower the two of you must possess in order to find new partners.” Right, Chihiro had said something like that she’d been going to the gym with some other people before... but how did he fit into what Sakura just said? Actually, he might have already guessed.

There was a distinct lack of Tenko in the gym today. 

Sakura seemed to pick up on Hajime’s confusion, and she answered his unspoken question, albeit quite cryptically. “Hajime... the truth is, I would like to speak with you. Alone. If you and Chihiro do not mind, of course.”

Hajime looked over to Chihiro, who gave him a little nod. “That’s okay Sakura, we can talk. I’ll be back soon Chihiro.”

Sakura guided Hajime outside of the gym, just into the small room before it, a room filled with trophy cabinets, all of which were naturally stuffed to the brim with trophies. You had to walk through here every time you wanted to enter the gym, and Hajime had to admit that every time he did, seeing all these awards, he felt pretty inadequate... this school did only recruit the best of the best after all. 

“So... what is it Sakura? What’s the matter?”

Taking a deep breath before she spoke, Sakura locked eyes with Hajime. Her intensity sent a chill down his spine... “Hajime... it’s about Tenko. Do you know if something happened to her recently, because her performance has seen a decline... I fear for her safety...”

Hajime gulped. He was well aware that Tenko wasn’t in great condition right now; even so, he didn’t really know anything about it. “I’m sorry... I don’t know anything about it Sakura... On Sunday, I’m going to spend some time with her. I have an idea of what to do to get her back on her feet but... but I’m just not so sure it’ll work. I’ve seen Tenko down before, it’s never been like this though, it was only ever brief, fleeting...”

Sakura calmly nodded. “Mhmm. Like during Golden Week, yes?” That was certainly the first time Hajime had seen Tenko in so distraught an emotional state, and yet this time was infinitely worse- she was still apparently suffering. If only he knew why, that would make his plan a whole lot easier to finish. “Perhaps I’m sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong, but do you recall when we last had a conversation like this? And I said I worry for Tenko because of one of her relationships? I wonder if her mood had anything to do with that...”

“Now that you mention it... maybe...” Hajime still couldn’t be sure, of course, yet it was a start, something to roll with. How valuable it would be was kind of dubious though...

“Hmmmmm... Tenko reminds me of myself, when I was younger...” Sakura’s sudden declaration caught Hajime entirely off guard. 

“R-really? You seem pretty well put together to me, it’s pretty hard to imagine you as anything like Tenko...”

Sakura smiled... it looked to him like a smile of reminisce, of reflection... far more mature than any expression Tenko wielded. “Thank you, though I still have much training to do. Regardless of how you see me now, I once was, and still can be, a very hot headed person. I would never back down from a challenge, never surrender, even for the most menial of tasks. It took a long time for me to learn to calm my heart, to be guided by my head instead of emotion during combat. I fear Tenko hasn’t reached that point yet, and that she’s going to hurt herself. You know, one of my close friends has been teaching Tenko to swim recently. I hear that during their last lesson... Tenko came rather close to drowning...” That news deeply unsettled Hajime. The idea... even the thought that Tenko might... that one of his friends might... no, he had to stop thinking like that. Tenko was safe right now. Physically at least. 

Unfortunately, Hajime also agreed with what Sakura had been saying about Tenko getting herself seriously hurt. Tenko must’ve already been hurting, and when you’re pushed to the point of unresponsiveness that she had... something terrible wasn’t far around the corner. 

Hajime knew he had to do something. Before it was too late to help Tenko...


	40. Chapter 38

Saturday, 18th May 

Makoto’s training sessions with Mukuro had mostly stopped thanks to his injury, though he still met up with her from time to time. She was still willing to mentor him with demonstrations, even if he couldn’t actually join in. 

Well... she’d give him lessons only if she actually came to school. 

Something had been playing on Makoto’s mind for a while now. Ever since he’d known Mukuro really. Considering the recent events, he thought it best to ask, just to clear his head of his worries, no matter how sudden or out of the blue it may have seemed. 

So when Mukuro finished her last demonstration of the day, something about strategic slicing angles and positions when on the floor, he pounced her with his question. “Hey, Mukuro? Umm... how’s your sister doing? How’s Junko...?”

Mukuro instantly froze on the spot; Makoto could see her knuckles whitening with how hard she had begun to grip the knife in her hand. He was suddenly filled with unease, a nervous dread. Was that... a bad question to ask...? “Junko... she’s doing okay. Why... why do you ask?”

Mukuro’s voice was quiet, even more so than it usually was. Makoto felt himself paling... Maybe this really was an awful topic to bring up. “O-oh, no real reason I guess, ha-ha... I uhh... well, you know, you’re sisters and all, but you two are never in school at the same time. I just... wondered if anything was wrong was all...”

With Mukuro’s face as off-white as it was, Makoto wondered if he’d accidentally stepped on a minefield. He was only asking out of honest concern, and yet he was all of a sudden fearful for his life. However, Mukuro put most of those fears to rest when she began to talk, releasing her death-grip on the knife as she returned it to the belt-sheath-thingy she wore around her waist to hold her small weaponry. “No, it’s okay... it’s nice of you to be concerned... we... do you know about our living situation?”

Their living situation? Assuming she meant what Makoto thought she did, he supposed yes. “You mean about how neither of you live in the dorms?”

Mukuro silently nodded. When Makoto’s class had been accepted into Hope’s Peak last year, that was when all the students in his class moved out of their homes to come here. Well, almost all of them. Mukuro and Junko had turned down the offer, wishing instead to continue living in their family home. The school didn’t push for them to live in the dorms since they, apparently, didn’t live that far from the academy. For the most part, that was the end of the story, but no one ever saw Junko and Mukuro in school on the same day, only one would ever turn up to registration. Usually it was Mukuro, though occasionally it would be Junko. Most of his classmates just assumed that it was because Junko just wasn’t really the type to be that concerned with school, and, to be honest, it was probably okay for her to be that way. Junko was already a very successful model, her graduation next year was virtually guaranteed already. Heck, she’d been on a hiatus from the industry for years now, and she was still the most famous and popular fashion model in Japan. Still, the fact that they never came to school together had never sat right with Makoto... “Yes... we do live together... it’s just the two of us though... me and Junko...”

“What? You two live by yourselves?” That was shocking news to Makoto. They voluntarily decided to not live in the dorms, so they could instead live at home by themselves? “What about your parents? Why don’t they-“

A rare look of sorrow graced Mukuro’s face. Makoto instantly shut up. Had... something happened to them? He didn’t want to pry if she was uncomfortable talking about it though. Still, she kept on going as if he hadn’t said that. “Yes, just us... just us. So one of us will usually stay behind... so that our lives don’t fall apart... things like cleaning, and cooking... and-“ A hand flew to cover Mukuro’s mouth. A shaky hand. Makoto had never seen her like this. It... looked like she was about to cry...

If he could have, he would have embraced her, but his sling stopped that from happening. Instead, he gently rubbed circles into Mukuro’s back. “M-Mukuro...? It’s okay if you want to cry... it sounds like things are really stressful for you right now. Just... let it out if you need to. I’m here.”

Mukuro’s watering eyes clamped shut, her head falling to rest on Makoto’s good shoulder. A soft, short sob left her mouth, and her hands pressed against Makoto’s shirt and jacket. “Thank you...”

Never in the time he’d known her had Mukuro expressed this much raw emotion. For a while, he wondered if she was even capable of it, though seeing her like this weighed heavy on his heart. Even in the past month, he’d seen enough sadness for one year. 

It was hard to smile right now, but Makoto tried to. For Mukuro’s sake. To at least give her a little light to latch on to, to give her whatever small comfort he was capable of. His efforts were wasted though, she didn’t lift her head from his shoulder for some time. He couldn’t tell if she was crying or not, she wasn’t making any sounds... except for the occasional phrase he heard whispered under her breath. It was the only thing he heard her say... again... and again... and again...

“I don’t want to be left behind again... please don’t leave me behind...”

Despite coming to see Angie of her own accord, Himiko didn’t feel like listening to her ramble on whilst she was painting. She’d just come down to the art room to talk with Angie, though somewhere along the way she’d lost the resolved to really say anything. Situations like this were always a pain... she had no experience with dealing with emotions like the ones she felt right now. 

One thing Angie said did snap her out of her doldrums though. 

“You know Himiko, Atua and I need to get ready for our next big project soon. We’re thinking that we should get a start next week. Maaaaaaaaybe... Tuesday? Perhaps even Monday. Doesn’t that sound divine?”

“A... a big project? Wh-why? Why now Angie...?” Himiko knew all too well that it would be impossible to dissuade Angie from starting whatever it was that she wanted to do, but that meant that Angie would disappear for at least a week- as she often would when undertaking her grandiose art projects. And right now... Himiko really didn’t want her to vanish...

As usual, Angie failed to detect any of Himiko’s inner turmoil, gleefully turning to her with a look of blissful ignorance. “Why? Because I need to get everything ready for the sports festival in July!” Angie wrapped her hands around herself in a tight hug as she continued. “Not only did the headmaster commission me to make customised trophies and medals for all the events, I’ve also been asked to help create items for the scavenger hunt! There’s so much to do, and Atua’s inspiration needs some time to boil, so I ought to get started as soon as possible. Don’t you agree?”

Practically, yes, Himiko did agree that with all that work, getting it done early was the way to go. Personally, however, Himiko couldn’t have been more opposed. She didn’t really want to be so selfish, and yet... “B-but... Angie, you’re still hurt... if you lock yourself away-“

“Oh, silly Himiko. How sweet of you to worry! However, thanks to Atua’s graceful blessings, I have mostly recovered already. Apparently I have made a swifter recovery than expected, I can only imagine that it was Atua’s doing. He is such a sweetheart!” Angie giggled when she finished. So... carefree... Himiko wished she could be like that sometimes. To not have a care in the world. 

In bringing up her injury, Angie had inadvertently created quite the handy opening for Himiko to take advantage of. It was kind of what she was even here to talk about after all. “... Angie? Was the reason you had Tenko help you out here so often because that was your revenge?” As soon as she’d said it, Himiko felt as if she was shrinking into herself. Like her whole body was becoming even smaller as she retreated into her head. She’d already decided that she didn’t want to really know the answer. Himiko had always had a certain image of Tenko; no matter how annoying she could be, Tenko was strong, fierce, and heroic. Inspirational, in a way. And... she was the first person in a long time who made Himiko feel loved. Then, when Tenko told her that she was the one who hurt Angie, something changed. That ferocity suddenly wasn’t a good thing, at all...

Angie stared back at her in curiosity, nothing more or less. “Hmm? Oh, did Tenko finally tell you?” Nothing in Angie’s voice indicated that she felt any anger or hatred... “I didn’t intend to use Tenko for anything like that though. Atua decided to forgive her, and so did I. In fact, we spent so much time together for your sake Himiko.”

“Nyeh? What... do you mean?” Hearing that... Himiko didn’t know what to make of it. How did the two of them spending time together do anything for her?

“Do you not want your two friends to also get along? We thought it would make you happy.”

So the reason... was really that simple? It was all... for her own happiness? Why...? Why?

Something was straining in Himiko’s chest. Some sort of pain. Before she could figure out what it was, Angie lightly patted her head. “Himiko? Are you okay? You look ill. Would you like me to help you to the nurses office?”

Himiko lightly swatted Angie’s hand away. “... n-no... I’m fine... I’ll see you l-later Angie...” Angie didn’t try to stop her as she left the art room. Not even a goodbye. That was what Himiko had wanted anyway. 

Time to think, that was what she needed right now. Time to think about Tenko. Angie apparently didn’t hold any animosity towards Tenko for what she did, and they’d even decided to become closer afterwards. Why didn’t Tenko just tell her that?

Maybe Himiko hadn’t given her the chance. 

Was it selfish for Himiko to have wanted to have been told about their plan? Was it selfish that Himiko was jealous that they were becoming closer?

Was it selfish that Himiko was terrified that they might leave her behind if they carried on getting closer?

“And then Ibuki was all like ‘bam bam bam BAM!’ and then my guitar shot fire out of the top and Ibuki cooked the perfect steak!”

“Oh shut up, that absolutely didn’t happen,” Hiyoko groaned as she and Ibuki climbed the stairs to the third floor of the dorms. Mikan had asked them to come to Hiyoko’s room after school for some reason, but that had meant that Hiyoko was stuck listening to one of Ibuki’s ‘totally cool and true’ stories for the whole walk. 

“Aww, don’t be such a party pooper Hiyoko. Why don’t you like Ibuki’s stories?” 

“Because they’re just as real as Mikan’s chest,” Hiyoko shot back. 

Ibuki might as well have done a spit take with the amount of saliva she spewed over the floor when she laughed at that. It really wasn’t that funny... why was Ibuki in such a good mood? Then again, she was always like this, wasn’t she? Hiyoko yanked on Ibuki’s tie to shut her up. 

“Ack! C’mon Hiyoko, lighten up! Don’t be such a sour gummy bear!” Ibuki eagerly rubbed the top of Hiyoko’s head. Seriously, what was with her today? Hiyojo aggressively slapped the hand away, but Ibuki only giggled when her hand retreated. It looked like she was eager to say something... did she know something?

Hiyoko breathed a sigh of relief when they finally got to her room. At least Mahiru would be inside, that would make tolerating Ibuki for the whole journey have some sort of payoff. Or maybe it was more accurate to call it a silver lining. Though when Hiyoko opened the door, she suddenly understood why Ibuki had been so jolly. It certainly helped that Ibuki had screamed “SURPRISE!” as soon as her door opened. 

Inside was something completely normal. Absolutely ordinary. That’s what made it feel so good to see. 

Mahiru was standing with Mikan by Hiyoko’s bed. Mahiru was... she was standing up... standing just like normal... chatting just like normal... smiling just like normal... as if nothing... nothing had ever...

It was such a silly thing to get emotional over. Hiyoko wanted to punch herself when she felt the tears well up in the corners of her eyes. This was all normal, a normal sight. Mahiru smiling with Mikan. Chatting with her. So why...?

Hiyoko hadn’t even noticed that Ibuki had grabbed her shoulders, and was pushing her into the room. At some point her body had just ceased to process anything other than Mahiru. All except for Ibuki’s cry of “Group hug!”

There was no time for her to react before she found herself smothered in fabric from all sides, engulfed in a warmth that had become alien to her. Even after Mahiru had left her room for the first time, things hadn’t magically clicked back to normal. She was still almost entirely bed ridden, and their friend group hadn’t really recovered from the shock of the past month anyway. Now though, here, in this moment, for the first time in a long time, Hiyoko felt as if everything was normal again. Even if her mind apparently wasn’t entirely ready for it. 

When Ibuki and Mikan pulled away, it was only then that Hiyoko realised how tightly her arms were wrapped around Mahiru’s waist. Or that a few tears had rolled down her cheek. Happy tears... 

Mikan’s shaky voice dragged her back even closer to reality, her words sobering Hiyoko’s mind. “M-Mahiru is f-finally healthy enough to come b-back to school Hiyoko. I-isn’t that g-great?” Yes. Yes it was. That news was the single greatest thing Hiyoko had ever heard in her life. 

Hiyoko could feel Mahiru’s chest rapidly rise and fall as she chuckled. “Ah, Mikan, you know I could’ve told her, right?”

“Oh, you’re right, I-I’m so sorry!” It had also been a little while since Hiyoko had heard Mikan be like that too... all nervous and meek like before. Somehow, during their turmoil, it felt as if Mikan had become a little stronger. Which, while fine for her personal growth, had been another reminder that things weren’t normal, like she had been filling in for the gaping hole Mahiru left in their group. 

The regular chatting retuned soon after, with Mahiru telling Mikan not to apologise for it, and Mikan then apologising even more, with Ibuki laughing in the background. Was this truly it? Was this truly the moment where everything returned to normal? The moment Hiyoko had been desperate for for so long now...

It didn’t feel real... perhaps that was why, even as everyone else spoke and joked, she never released Mahiru from her grasp. If this was all fake, if she never let go of Mahiru, she’d never have to face that cruel reality, would she? But no... she was confident that this was real. 

Nothing could fake the feeling of Mahiru’s arms around her. Or playfully firm, yet friendly, grip of Ibuki’s hand on her shoulder. Or the sound of Mikan tripping over thin air and collapsing to the ground. 

Nothing could fake the fact that her own heart finally felt whole again.


	41. Chapter 39

Sunday, 19th May

The rumble of the subway car was deafening, but at least it wasn’t overflowing with people. Hajime almost exclusively put that down to Makoto’s luck. Besides, there was no way Hajime would have wanted to get everyone on the subway otherwise- Hiyoko was so small they’d lose her in the crowd; the despondent Tenko and absentminded Chiaki would easily fall behind in crowds, and probably wouldn’t get off at the right stops without the rest of them there to remind them; and Makoto’s arm injury was pretty unsuitable for the usually packed-to-the-brim subway. That wasn’t to say it wasn’t busy though, just that they weren’t packed in like sardines. 

Having stewed on it for a while, he’d decided that, to take advantage of Chiaki’s proposition to all hang out, they should try and use today to cheer Tenko up, even if only a little. And what better way to do that than go somewhere a little different, a little further from home? The only problem was that he wasn’t so sure how to do that while also appeasing everyone else... 

Soon enough, the announcement for their arrival in Shinjuku played throughout the train. Hajime found himself double checking a few times that they’d all gotten off when they arrived, a paranoia that today couldn’t possible end perfectly playing on his mind. The same thought had been there for most of the train ride; it wouldn’t vanish any time soon. 

Thankfully, they got out of the station without any issues- even Tenko had stuck with them. Now, the logical question arose, delivered by Hiyoko in just as delicate a manner as Hajime expected from her. “Why are we in Shinjuku? I thought you guys wanted to hang out, not go hiking around Tokyo!”

Hajime did actually have an answer for that- his very first idea for helping Tenko. Unfortunately, when he’d come to plan this journey out, he realised he didn’t really know anything about what Tenko actually liked or enjoyed doing. As such, he’d decided to sort of go anywhere and everywhere Tenko might like. “Well, I thought it might be nice to go to Gyoen.”

“Shinjuku Gyoen? The park?” Makoto asked. Hajime nodded, but Hiyoko butted in again. 

“What? Why? Who would wanna walk around a stupid park all day? Plus, cherry blossom season ended here, like, half a month ago. There’s literally no point coming here...” She crossed her arms defiantly, rolling her eyes. What a dour person she was...

“... it sounds like you know a lot about Gyoen, Hiyoko, for you to know when the blossom season ends here,” Chiaki’s soft voice seemed to shake Hiyoko, though the sweet smile on Chiaki’s face clearly showed that she held no ill intentions with her words. 

Hiyoko looked away from them, and began spitting back at them. “Shut up, I don’t know that much. It’s just because it’s a famous park, of course I’d know a bit about it. I’m the Ultimate Traditional Dancer, it’s expected that I’d know stuff about important spots in Japan.” Nothing could be easy with Hiyoko, could it?

“Look, can we just go? It’s a short walk from here, and it’s a relaxing spot. It’ll be nice, I promise.” Hajime felt as if he was basically begging, and the day had only just started. Maybe expecting everyone to go along with this was a mistake?

But by some miracle, Hiyoko started to walk, dragging her feet as she did. “Whatever... let’s go... can’t believe I’m gonna spend five hundred yen on a stupid park trip...”

Makoto had started to walk with her, cheerfully attempting to balance her negativity. “Technically it’s for the whole day, right? So if we leave, we can come back later...” Their voices faded into the general blanket of noise from all the other people walking by the station. 

Hajime sighed in anguish, his shoulders slumping. Today was going to be a long day...

He felt a light tap on his arm, and when he turned to see who was responsible, he saw Chiaki smiling up at him. She was holding Tenko’s hand- apparently she’d designated herself as Tenko’s caretaker for now- which was probably for the best. If he or Makoto tried that, Tenko would murder them, and Hiyoko wouldn’t even try in the first place. “Come on Hajime... let’s go after them. We don’t want to lose them, do we?” Hajime shallowly laughed when she’d finished. He could tell she wasn’t being serious, though he did really fear losing those two...

“... isn’t it funny that the biggest part of a famous Japanese park is actually an English garden?” Ever since he’d arrived with Chiaki, she’d only made the weirdest observations of the place. Something about the arrangement of trees not being symmetrical, or why the map had maple leaves on it when there weren’t any maple trees...

“Uh... yeah... honestly, I find it stranger that you were okay with paying for Tenko.”

Chiaki slightly narrowed her eyes at Hajime, and lightly pulled an unresponsive Tenko closer to her. “Hajime... of course I paid for her. It would be rude not to... I think.”

If Tenko wasn’t in the state she was currently, Hajime couldn’t have possibly agreed less, he would have assumed she was basically just freeloading. Still though... “Did you pay her fare on the subway as well?” Hajime was practically stunned into silence when Chiaki nodded her head. “Wow... that’s a little too charitable, don’t you think?”

“You think so? Thank you Hajime. I think you’re a lot nicer than me though. You did want to come here for Tenko’s sake, didn’t you?” That was some impressive perception on her part, though Hajime didn’t intend to tell her the truth- not while Tenko was with them. Although... he could have sworn he saw Tenko’s eyes look up from the floor when Chiaki had said that. 

“For Tenko? I, uh... well, I guess, kind of, since she is one of our friends, but I wanted to do stuff that we might all enjoy, this isn’t just for her...” Chiaki’s face was emotionless- he couldn’t tell if she’d bought it or not. Then again, it didn’t ultimately matter if she did, he just didn’t want to tell Tenko. 

In his mind, he assumed that someone like Tenko would force themselves to have fun if they knew that their friends were doing something for them, and that wasn’t really what Tenko needed. What she did need was a natural recovery. Whatever happened must have been pretty bad; it was as she was suffering from PTSD...

“Hey hey... shouldn’t you call Makoto or Hiyoko? We still haven’t found them...” If Chiaki did know, she certainly didn’t let on, instead jumping ahead in conversation again. It was a welcome conversation change. 

“Oh, yeah, right...” Fishing around in his pocket for his phone, Hajime pulled it out, and dialled Makoto’s number. There was a few seconds of standby before he answered. “Makoto, where are you?”

“Hello to you too, you ass!” Hiyoko’s voice boomed out of the speaker. What was she doing with Makoto’s phone? When he asked as such, Hiyoko answered in a sarcastic tone. “Oh, who knows, maybe Makoto fell in one of the ponds and drowned, so I’m the only one around to pick up. Obviously I just grabbed it out of his pocket, moron!”

Did she really have to be so spiteful over something this minor? At least she just confirmed that they were still together. “Okay, okay... where are you two then?”

“We’re in the greenhouse. You’re a tall, lanky guy, I’m sure you can already see it,” Hiyoko’s voice rang out playfully. It was quite the sudden shift from her venomous tone she’d had a few seconds prior...

“Thanks, we’ll be with you in a second then...” Hanging up, Hajime sighed. Again. He was going to do that a lot today, wasn’t he?

“... the greenhouse then?” Hajime flinched slightly when Chiaki suddenly appeared right by his side. Sure, he’d been on the phone, but she slipped so silently up to him...

They didn’t waste much time before half jogging-half walking (because of Tenko) to the greenhouse. Annoyingly, Hiyoko had been kind of right. The greenhouse was pretty much straight ahead from the Shinjuku gate, so he’d seen it immediately. Leave it to Hiyoko to somehow make him a little self conscious about something like his height...

Inside of the greenhouse was an entirely different jungle of plant-life; it was like stepping into a whole other country. The rest of the garden was certainly pretty, but it was largely just a lot of trees with colourful leaves and blossoms. In the greenhouse, however, were tropical looking flowers of bright, warm colours, shimmering ponds with delicate lily pads bobbing on their surface, and towering trees with lush green leaves. All in all, the greenhouse looked an awful lot like Hope’s Peaks own garden on the fifth floor. Thankfully there were no chickens here...

By one of the ponds, they quickly spotted Hiyoko and Makoto; it would have been hard not to, what with Hiyoko wearing a bright yellow kimono. Hiyoko was bent over one of the railings blocking off one of the ponds, seemingly pointing at something, while Makoto stood next to her. From where he and Chiaki were watching, it almost looked like they were siblings- Hiyoko actually looked like a pleasant person when he couldn’t hear her foul mouth. “Hey, you guys!” Hajime called out to the two of them, waving. Makoto looked back over his shoulder, and, after giving Hiyoko’s back a small tap, they all came together again. “Looked like you were having some fun there Hiyoko.” Hajime smugly grinned at Hiyoko, a gesture she responded to by blowing a raspberry at him. 

“Shut up, dork! I was just showing Makoto something, that’s all.” She folded her arms and pouted. Hiyoko really did seem like a typical little sister; it was surreal that she was actually the oldest member of the group... then again, Chiaki might have been older than her, but she was still second oldest at worst. 

Makoto chuckled- maybe he was used to this sort of behaviour, he was an older brother already after all. “Yeah, she was showing me this really cool flower that only grows in the shade in the pond. You must really know a lot about-“ Makoto’s voice was cut off by a yelp when Hiyoko kicked him in his shin. 

“Why don’t you tell all of us about it Hiyoko? This will be a much better experience if we know what we’re looking at... I think. Right Tenko?” Tugging gently on Tenko’s wrist, Chiaki looked at her expectantly... Tenko was still quiet. At the very least, she wasn’t still looking at the floor, and had begun to actually look around... that was some progress...

“... alright, fine, twist my arm a little more, why don’t you?” Hiyoko’s tone... it was different to her usual biting commentary. It sounded like... she was actually interested in talking to them. That’s when Hajime noticed that Hiyoko was eyeing Tenko with the closest thing the dancer could muster to pity. Had she figured it out then? The real reason Hajime had brought them here? “Let’s ditch this place though, it’s way too humid. I can walk you through the French garden instead.” With her head held so high... it looked to Hajime as if Hiyoko was actually going to take some pride in this. “Well? Get a move on then! I don’t have all day for slowpokes like you!”

“Are you interested in botany Hiyoko? You seem to know a lot about flowers...” After having Hiyoko tour them around Gyoen, they’d all come to rest at the coffee shop in the park. As it turned out, Hajime was right about his assessment of Hiyoko- she took a lot of pride in basically acting as a leader for a while, and that fact was only made ever clearer by her cocky grin and playfully airy voice when answering Chiaki’s question. 

“Of course I know my stuff, if you haven’t noticed, all of my kimono’s have floral patterns on them. It’s not just an aesthetic thing you know. Plus, unlike you peasants, I’ve been all over the world, so I naturally know way more about other countries than all of you.” Certainly a rude way to put it, but that did explain why she knew so much about plants in the French and English gardens. Chiaki looked very impressed, in spite of Hiyoko’s attitude, her sparkling eyes fixed on Hiyoko with fascination. 

“That’s so cool... that you know so much about something that isn’t your talent...”

Makoto chuckled at Chiaki’s comment. “That figures, right? I don’t think our lives revolve exclusively around our talents do they?”

It obviously wasn’t meant to offend her, but as soon as Makoto said that, the light faded from Chiaki’s eyes, and she slumped back into her chair. “Oh... yeah... I guess that would be pretty lame, huh... if someone’s only interests were about their talent...” What was the matter with her?

Hiyoko pulled a face like she’d just eaten something sour, and hopped out of her chair. “Ugh... Hey, I don’t wanna get anything from this café, all they sell is coffee.”

“Uh, well, there’s a lot of shops around... you could always just quickly go buy something at a shop down the street or something.” Hajime wasn’t really sure what had brought that on in Hiyoko, for her to suddenly blurt that out. Figures she would have already said something considering the fact that she obviously knew Gyoen quite well. They could always come right back in after going out for something to eat elsewhere. 

Hiyoko twirled on the spot, smiling a little too innocently at Hajime. “Oh, that’s a great idea Hajime. Why don’t we go together, I might get swept away if I go by myself...” She glanced back at the table. “And let’s bring Tenko with us as well, she could do with some more walking.”

Chiaki was about to object, but Hajime interrupted her. Sure, he wasn’t initially eager about suddenly being roped into whatever Hiyoko wanted to do; still... “No, it’s okay. You’ve looked after Tenko all day, let us handle her. You can babysit Makoto instead.”

“H-hey!” Makoto cried out in exasperation, and Hiyoko let out a single scoff. Apparently she found that somewhat funny. 

Hiyoko took Tenko by the hand, and pulled her up; after a quick promise to Makoto and Chiaki that they’d be back soon, the three of them set out. Although... “Uh, Hiyoko? What was all that about?”

Hiyoko silently glowered at him. What, was he really supposed to know? “Duh! I’m helping your dumb ass with your big plan for today! Hopefully those two don’t get too bored, cuz we aren’t gonna be back for a while.”

Keio Department Store... it was a gigantic complex of shops that stood pretty close to Shinjuku station. That was where Hiyoko had taken Hajime and Tenko. Although, Hajime had a feeling it wasn’t so much for Tenko’s sake as it was for Hiyoko’s... which he really should’ve seen coming, after all, how would shopping appeal to Tenko at all?

It was when they were all in a little sweets shop that Hajime approached Hiyoko about it, while Tenko was occupied staring into shelf upon shelf of stuff she probably wasn’t really taking in. “Hiyoko... what gives? I thought you said this was to help Tenko. All we’ve done is spend an hour and a half window shopping. And don’t think I haven’t noticed that it’s all stuff that you’d like! Why bother bringing us along if you just wanted to shop for yourself?”

The corner of Hiyoko’s mouth twisted up in annoyance, quickly followed by a scoff. “Tch, you’re supposed to be better friends with her than I am, and you still don’t get it? Maybe it’s cuz you’re a guy- I’m trying to appeal to her girlishness.”

“Tenko? Girly? We’d be better off taking her to see a sumo wrestling match, Tenko’s a rough and tumble type, not some girly girl.” It was Hajime’s turn to cross his arms defiantly, a scowl crossing his brow. 

Still, Hiyoko retained her disgusted look. “Jeez, you really don’t get it, huh? I mean, just look at her. What other meatheads do you know that dress like her? She’s pretty crap at it, but she’s trying to look cute, showing off that nasty belly, and wearing that layered skirt. Ugh, not to mention that dumb choker. You don’t get your friends at all, do you? Besides, isn’t the problem that she’s got a broken heart, or whatever? Isn’t that a ‘girly girl’ thing to be so depressed over?”

Maybe Hiyoko had a point, but Hajime didn’t really care for how she was putting it. Or that face she was making. “Oh, wow, great observations Hiyoko. How would you know what she’s feeling, you’re stone cold!” He... hadn’t really meant to say that. Nor shout it...

Hiyoko’s smirk fell, drawn back into a straight line. Her gaze fell onto Tenko, forlornly. Melancholically. “... shut up... SHUT UP! Of course I know what she’s feeling!” There was raw emotion in Hiyoko’s screams. A passionate blaze, so different to the usual abrasive tongue lashing she delivered. Hajime’s arms fell. What he’d said... perhaps it was a bit too much...

The fury that erupted behind Hiyoko’s eyes was directed at Tenko, and she shouted for her. “Tenko! Get over here, we’re going back to the other two!”

...

Of course Tenko didn’t respond. She didn’t even turn to face Hiyoko and Hajime. “Hiyoko, look, I’m-“ When he reached out to Hiyoko, she slapped his hand away, and began stomping over to Tenko. Before Hajime could stop her, she grabbed Tenko’s wrist and spun her so that she was facing Hiyoko. Then...

A dull thud sounded out over everything else in the store. “H-Hiyoko! Why would you-!” She’d just punched Tenko. Right in the jaw. With enough force that it had actually made Tenko stumble to the side, clutching at where Hiyoko had hit her. 

“Get a grip, dumbass!” Hiyoko had ignored Hajime, instead she began to shout at Tenko. “What are you doing, letting yourself get all down in the dumps like this? Aren’t you supposed to be our leader? How are we supposed to get anything done if you’re too depressed to do your damn job! So what, did you have a little falling out with one of your friends, get in a little fight? Then what the fuck are you doing here, doing nothing about it?! You’re a coward, a coward who chose to run away instead of facing your problems! You-“

“Hiyoko, that’s enough!” Hajime grabbed Hiyoko by the shoulder; before she could turn her verbal barrage at him...

“... it’s okay Hajime. Because she’s right...”

Both Hajime and Hiyoko’s heads snapped towards Tenko. She wasn’t holding her jaw anymore, letting the small red sting brighten her face slightly. Her line of sight had drifted up from the floor, and was now directed between the two of them- she wasn’t looking at them though, more like right through them. “She’s right... I shouldn’t be here... I should be apologising to Himiko... a-and Angie too... it’s what I should have done from the start, instead of just letting my situation spin out of hand...” Hajime wasn’t entirely sure what she was talking about, but he understood that Tenko had come to some sort of realisation. All thanks to Hiyoko...?

“Yeah, you better,” Hiyoko shot back. “First though, you’ve got some other friends to go back to. Fuck, if you were this torn up over something, you would’ve thought you would just talk to us about it. What, did all your testosterone get in the way of talking about your feelings?”

“Huh? What? I’m not- Don’t compare me to degenerate’s!” All it took was that declaration for Hajime to realise... Tenko had managed to find her feet again...

“Whatever you say... come on, I already said it, but we’ve gotta get back to Chiaki and Makoto. You kept them waiting long enough.”

“R-right! Oh, but first...!” Tenko’s hand shot onto the shelf next to her; the one she’d been staring at before. “I’m just gonna buy some gum, kay?”

“... h-hang on, this whole time... I thought you were like, catatonic it something...” Hajime’s shoulders slumped forward. If that were true... she’d seen and heard pretty much everything he’d said today...

“Oh, yeah... sorry, I just didn’t feel like talking. Gotta say Hajime, you’re a lot nicer than your average degenerate. So, uh... thanks... for today and all...” Tenko ran off to pay for the gum she’d picked up, while Hajime’s eyes glared holes into the floor, his jaw hanging slack.

“Seriously...? All this time...? Damn it Tenko, I can’t believe I was so worried about her...” Hiyoko cackled at his dismay, wiping faux-tears from her eyes as she did. 

“Ah-ha-ha-ha! Oh, you’re such a loser! You wasted an entire day on this, when all we really needed to do was give her a good slap. How does it feel? To be that stupid?”

For once, Hajime didn’t even want to disagree with Hiyoko... “Hey, Hiyoko? I might be an idiot, but you really helped her in the end. I guess the rest of us were just too nice to tell her what she needed to hear. And... I’m sorry about what I said a second ago. I was... I was just angry, and I wasn’t thinking straight...”

Fully expecting some kind of attack, Hajime preemptively flinched... and yet nothing came. Nothing but an uncharacteristically soft version of Hiyoko’s voice. “It was nothing. I’ve had a good teacher for this sort of thing is all. Plus...” Hiyoko’s small fists bunched up tight, quivering slightly at her sides. “I’m tired of seeing people make such depressing faces... There are some people I should’ve punched a long time ago...” Despite her aggression, there was definite sadness in Hiyoko’s voice. Like a longing, a wish to have changed something... Her defensive layers were starting to peel back- Hajime finally felt like he might be starting to see the real Hiyoko...

‘You feel like your bond with Hiyoko has grown deeper...’

The Hiyoko Saionji Social Link has reached Rank 2.

“Alright,” Hiyoko grabbed Hajime’s tie, tugging on it. “Let’s go. We’ve made enough of a commotion. People are starting to stare at us, and I don’t want people to get the wrong idea about us.”

Being so wrapped up in helping Tenko out of her rut, Hajime hadn’t really had time to take in the beauty of Gyoen. Even with the full cherry blossom season gone, there was something beautiful about the trees in the garden that he hadn’t seen the first time; those strikingly green leaves with the last few speckles of pink blossoms, the wide reach of the branches creating small canopies around the park, even that earthy scent of nature you couldn’t really find anywhere else... and since it was late afternoon, the slowly yellowing sky created a vibrant backdrop for the scene, beams of light dancing over the motionless ponds. 

Makoto and Tenko had gone for another walk around Gyoen- Makoto wanted to stretch his legs after being sat down with Chiaki for so long, and Tenko just really wanted to see the whole place again while there weren’t that many people left here. Seems he’d made a good call in bringing her here after all. Hajime, Chiaki, and Hiyoko were simply sitting on the grass by one of the ponds, either looking up into the sky or off into nothingness. Their silence wasn’t awkward so much as it was relaxing. Calming. Very fitting for the serene garden they were in. 

“... do you think we’ll get days like this after we graduate?”

Chiaki’s simple question roused Hajime out of his stupor. “Hmm? What do you mean?”

Chiaki was lightly toying with the little ribbon around her neck. “I was just thinking... we’re all third year students, right? And after graduating from Hope’s Peak, you’re set for life... so long as you pursue your talent as a career. But if you’re the best of the best, going out into the real world... won’t it be expected of us to dedicate our lives to those talents? I guess that’s why I think you two are incredible. Hiyoko, you know so much about things other than dancing, you could probably have a future in botany, or maybe even something to do with fashion. And Hajime... maybe you don’t see it this way, but I really envy you... not having a talent... you’re free to do whatever you want, and you still have that Hope’s Peak accolade to your name...” When Chiaki smiled at them... it seemed like a poor effort for her to force it. What had brought this on? He had to assume she was worried about her talent; why was she thinking about this now?

“What, you think we’ll be work machines in the future?” Before Hajime could think of a response, Hiyoko made one for him. “I don’t care what anyone says, I’ll never let my life be decided by my talent. I’ll do what I want, when I want. Why not try it out? I know you’re a real goody goody, but you need to let your stuffy hair down more.”

“Maybe...” That was the only thing Chiaki could say. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she stared up at the sky. Hiyoko fell silent too, having said her piece. Hajime though... he wanted to say something, and yet... well, he hadn’t really thought about anything like that before. After he left school, what was he supposed to do? For as long as he could remember, all he’d wanted to do was keep his grades up so he could stay in the academy; that left little time to think about careers or anything... He would need to soon though, this was his last year of high school. Sure, he was pretty much set for life if he graduated from Hope’s Peak, though that only widened his options to literally everything...

What did he want to do with his life...?

“Hey! What are you guys doing, looking so depressed?” Tenko’s loud voice echoed around the park, its usual cheer returning in full force. 

“I really don’t wanna hear that from you,” Hajime muttered as he turned to face her. Hiyoko was quick to get back on her case too. 

“Heh, yeah, what’s wrong with you? What a disgrace of a leader, getting all bummed out over absolutely nothing. Ugh, we’re even named after you, so that just makes all of us look bad.” Look bad to who? No one else knew about their team.

Tenko nervously laughed, and Makoto chimed in. “Come on guys, you don’t need to be so harsh, do you?”

“Uhh... actually...” Tenko’s voice sounded wavy, guilty even. “I want to say something! As the leader of our team... I propose that we change our name.”

“Huh? But... why?” Hajime couldn’t believe that he wasn’t jumping at the chance to change that awful name; for some reason, something was stopping him. 

“Oh, what? Weren’t you the one who wanted to change it most? Typical... what a flippant male.” Tenko glared at Hajime, crossing her arms. Of all times for them to start fighting... “Go on then guys, pick a new name. I’ll leave it to all of you!”

“Great, just dump it in our laps why don’t you?” Hajime shot back at Tenko, though it was largely because he didn’t have a clue as to what they should be called. Apparently, everyone else was drawing blanks too, because they must have all shared in a collective silence for a couple of minutes at least. Up until Chiaki piped up...

“How about... the Jabberwock Extraction Team. It’s good to have a name that tells everyone exactly what we do... I think.” Again... no one else was supposed to know they were doing this. Still...

“Oooo, JET, huh? Literal, and has a pretty cool acronym. I say that’s a keeper!” What was that about letting everyone decide? Tenko just jumped on the first option... it wasn’t as if anyone else had anything to say though. 

“Ugh, it’s not... totally awful...” Hiyoko seemed reluctantly accepting of it. 

“Uh, yeah, I guess. I think it’s alright.” Hajime gave his consent as well. 

“Everyone’s okay with it then. Great work Chiaki!” Makoto offered Chiaki a congratulatory smile. It looked like the group warmth had begun to melt through the icy exterior Chiaki had built a few minutes ago. 

Come to think of it, this was pretty much the first thing they’d done as a group that wasn’t all fighting in the NWP. Not to mention the fact that it was one of the first times they’d ever all agreed on anything. Tenko apparently recognised that too, releasing a rousing cheer into the evening air. “Allllllright! Come on JET, let’s get outta here, rush hour will start soon, and I don’t wanna be pressed up against anyone on our way home. So let’s... jet it!” She laughed heartily at her own joke, snapping her fingers. 

... it was good to have Tenko back. 

‘You feel like your bond with your friends has grown deeper...’

The Jabberwock Extraction Team Social Link has reached Rank 3.

Being the only first year on the team meant that the last little bit of Tenko’s walk back to her room was made on her own. Damn it, she was so jealous of Hiyoko and Chiaki, they could walk and talk all the way to their rooms!

So caught up in her own head, Tenko didn’t even notice that someone was waiting for her outside of her door until she was only a few steps away from them. “H-Himiko...?! I-I... uhh... wh-what are you doing here...?”

Himiko rubbed one of her eyes with the back of her hand, pouting. “Nyeh... what do you think I’m doing? Ehhhh... I can’t believe you were gone all day. I got really tired waiting around...”

“Y-you were... but why?” A nerve driven knot was forming in Tenko’s stomach. The only reason she could imagine Himiko coming to find her right now was to end their friendship directly, so that there were no misunderstandings or anything. “W-were you... waiting for me...?”

“... no.”

“...”

“... yes...”

Himiko raised a nervous hand up to her chest, lightly gripping the emblem on her jacket. She was avoiding looking at Tenko’s face... that must’ve been because she couldn’t stand the sight of her... “I... I’m so sorry Himiko! I know I ruined everything, I just-“

“You talk too much...” Himiko’s dry remark cut through Tenko’s words before she hammered one final nail in Tenko’s proverbial coffin. Slumping forward, Himiko wrapped her delicate arms around Tenko’s waist, her head resting against Tenko’s chest. Wait... what was going on?! “... you never talk about the right things... why didn’t you tell me that you and Angie were all cool...?”

Was this...? Was this a second chance? Was Himiko giving her a second chance?! Tenko quickly wiped the stream of drool that was beginning to trickle out of her mouth off of her chin with the back of her hand. “Sorry Himiko... I’ll... I promise I’ll do better next time!”

“Nyeh... I hope there isn’t a next time...” That was a good point. Tenko didn’t really want to break any other part of Angie’s body... “Tenko? Maybe Angie told you already, but she’s gonna be really busy soon, so I don’t think you’ll need to help her for a while. So... do y-you... want to h... h... hang... out? N-next week?”

Something inside of Tenko must’ve exploded. She couldn’t find the words to respond, her knees were knocking together, her vision was blurring... Hmm, this kind of felt like a deja vu moment... What did that matter? Today... today had ended up being the perfect day...!

“T-Tenko...? Tenko! Stop leaning on me...! I can’t take your weight...! Ahhhh...!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise that this took so long to come out. Seriously, this was almost as long as when I actually took a break from writing. School work has kept me busy, though thankfully next week is my last week before summer, so the original schedule should be returning soon! After the summer... I’ll make no promises. 
> 
> Fool- Jabberwock Extraction Team: Rank 3  
> Magician- Hiyoko Saionji: Rank 2  
> Hierophant- Angie Yonaga: Rank 3  
> Lovers- Komaru Naegi: Rank 1  
> Chariot- Martial Artists: Rank 3  
> Temperance- Koichi Kizakura: Rank 2  
> Devil- Miu Iruma: Rank 3  
> Star- Makoto Naegi: Rank 3  
> Moon- Chihiro Fujisaki: Rank 1  
> Aeon- Sonia Nevermind: Rank 2  
> Jester- Gundham Tanaka: Rank 2


	42. Chapter 40

Monday, May 20th

“H-hey, Hiyoko, there’s no need for you to hold me like that, I promise I’m not going to just fall over or anything...” Although Mahiru was somewhat flattered that Hiyoko was acting so dotingly towards her, she felt that it was wholly unnecessary in this case. Not that she could blame Hiyoko for being worried, she’d only just started walking around again, and with all of their combined experience with Mikan, they were both well aware of how absurdly easy it was to trip over absolutely nothing. 

Hiyoko had spent their walk to school half clinging to Mahiru’s side, half trying to drag her along. In the end though, it felt like they were walking at a snails pace. “Stop trying to act all big and tough Mahiru. You’re probably still a little weak, so you should lean on me for a few days. I know you like being all independent and shit, but let me take care of you for now. That’s what best friends are for!” There wasn’t a single drop of deception or malice in the smile that lit up Hiyoko’s face; Mahiru couldn’t help but reciprocate the expression. 

Although, by the time the two did actually reach their homeroom, Mahiru was positive that they were late. Perhaps she shouldn’t have let Hiyoko take full control over their speed... She couldn’t even hear anyone inside the classroom; they must’ve been incredibly late! To a certain extent, Mahiru did have an excuse for being somewhat late, but she would have preferred to not need to use it. Still, Ms. Yukizome should’ve still been inside, and they should register in with her regardless. 

As soon as Hiyoko opened the classroom door, and they stepped inside...

“WELCOME BACK!”

A raucous, celebratory cheer blared throughout the room, aimed directly at Mahiru, punctuated by Mikan fumbling with a party popper, setting it off a few seconds later than everyone else who cried their welcome, and startling herself so much with the loud ‘pop’ that she recoiled backwards, collapsing onto the floor after tumbling over some desks. 

It wasn’t everyone... but so many of her classmates were there. Were here... apparently happily celebrating her return. Of course Mikan was present- as was Ibuki and Ms. Yukizome. Chiaki, just as she expected from the class rep; Nagito, Kazuichi, Sonia; even Nekomaru, Akane, and surprisingly enough Peko, who had always seemed so distant from everyone, even after the couple of years she’d spent with the rest of the class. 

Ibuki bounced over to her and Hiyoko, who were still both standing in the door way. “Welcome back Mahiru! We’ve all missed you sooooooooo much!” Grabbing Mahiru by the arm, Ibuki pulled her forward into a tight, loving embrace. Well... it actually felt a little more like a death grip... too much love...

“Ah! Let go of her, punky bitch! You’re hurting her!” Hiyoko’s shrill cry prompted Ibuki to loosen her grip a bit, nervously laughing as she did. 

“Ah-ha-ha-ha... sorry Mahiru... Ibuki was just so excited to see you again...”

“But Ibuki... you’ve already seen me a couple of times already...”

“Huh?” Ibuki looked... genuinely shocked by that revelation... “Oh crap, Ibuki totally has! Ahhhh, my bad Mahiru!” Fully letting go, Ibuki clapped her hands together in prayer, as if pleading for Mahiru to forgive her for something that really wasn’t that big a deal. 

Apparently Ms. Yukizome could tell that Mahiru was already at a loss, since she chose then to interject. “Don’t hog Mahiru all to yourself now Ibuki, I’m sure we all want to welcome Mahiru back, don’t we everyone?”

Nagito was the first to step forward, clearly a little too eager... “Ah, Mahiru! To see you back with us after you underwent such an ordeal...! Truly, you are more than worthy of the talent you possess, to overcome such a deeply scarring despair, that is-“

“I think what Nagito is trying to say,” Chiaki thankfully interrupted him before he could truly spiral into a mad rambling. As glad as Mahiru was to be back, Nagito could be... bit much... a lot of the time. “... is that we’re all really glad to have you back with us... I think. I know I’m supposed to be the class representative, but you do an way better job than me at helping everyone get along. We’ve sort of been lost without you...”

“Aww... you guys...” Mahiru could feel the tears welling up in her eyes, her vision blurring. For the first time in what felt like forever though, these were happy tears. The boisterous reunion quickly bombarded her again, ‘welcome backs’ and ‘how are yous’ aplenty. 

... it felt wonderful to finally be back. 

“... she’s back, huh?” Fuyuhiko spat under his breath. He’d decided to not enter the classroom; showing his face to that bitch wasn’t something he planned on doing. 

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair! Why did she get to come back safe and sound... he never got a resolution like that. He never got some stupid ass pity party when Natsumi was killed. Whatever, it didn’t fuckin’ matter anyway. 

Peko must’ve shown up on purpose- to stop him from doing anything. Why...? Why was she getting in his way? Why wouldn’t she let him have his revenge?

Why did Peko have to know him so well in terms of this... but in nothing else?

Overwhelming dread, sickening anxiety- already, choked sobs were echoing throughout the corridors of the Reserve Course. Today was a day of reckoning, a day which held the potential to ruin lives...

Today, the exam results were being posted. 

By the time Hajime even got to school in fact, they had already been posted. To be completely honest, since these were midterms, there was very rarely going to be any punishment for underachievers in the Reserve Course- it was really only drama queens or students extremely conscious about their grades that really had melt downs if things didn’t go as planned. That wasn’t to say that no one ever got punished, but that was usually more so on a case by case basis- like some kids with extremely strict parents who would threaten their kids, or those that clearly didn’t even try getting pulled out of classes for lectures, stuff like that. It was the end of term exams you really had to watch out for... if you did poorly enough on those, the academy could easily choose to drop you...

Usually, Hajime wasn’t worried about his scores. Not because they didn’t matter to him, but because he was one of the students most dedicated to studying. However... with all the recent events, he feared that there was a chance, a tiny, almost insignificant chance that he might have slipped... just a bit, not far at all...

It felt as if something was lodged in his throat as he scanned the wall for his class’ score sheet. A cold sweat trickled down his neck. Biting his lip, as soon as he found the piece of paper his name would be on, he immediately checked the top ten for his name...

His heart sank in his chest. 

He... his name wasn’t up there... so of course the only logical thing to think was that he totally flunked the test- in a nervous panic Hajime’s eyes darted down to the bottom of the list. Okay... he hadn’t scored the worst... or second worst... or third... he trailed further and further up the list, soon landing on his name. 

His own name should have shone like a beacon to the person it belonged to; perhaps he’d been trying to block it out. There he was, smack bang in the middle. To most people, that result probably wouldn’t have seemed so bad. Though, for Hajime, this was awful... dreadful... the last time he’d been below the top ten was during his very first mid term exams in his first year. 

At the end of the day, did this matter? No. Probably not. And yet this simple fact had burdened Hajime’s heart and mind with something unimaginably painful. And that pain was apparently enough to trigger a specific memory. A memory of something that Hajime had been offered as a part of his deal in his dealings with the NWP.

There was still time before he needed to be in class anyway. Could there possibly be any harm in paying the headmaster a little visit?

Even though he’d been doing it for over a month now, Hajime still couldn’t quite get used to walking through the halls of the Main Course building. Very rarely did anyone ever pay him any mind; he still felt like he was encroaching on territory that obviously wasn’t his. Not even reaching the headmasters room could allay his anxieties. And those anxieties must have been even stronger than he’d initially thought, since, when the door opened before he touched it, Hajime instinctively jumped backwards in fright. 

Kizakura’s lighthearted laugh only served to make Hajime embarrassed about the whole thing... “Hey kid, didn’t expect to run into you here. And by the looks of things, you weren’t expecting me either, huh?” Cocking his head up, Kizakura resumed his good-natured chuckle. In an attempt to bury his own shame, Hajime tried to divert there conversation topic.

“Y-yeah... Hey, Mr. Kizakura? What’s that you’ve got there?” Hajime pointed to a small booklet of papers loosely clutched in Kizakura’s hands. They can’t have been too important, since when Hajime mentioned them Kizakura carelessly waved them about. 

“These? Just a little surprise for one of our Ultimates. She scored unexpectedly high on her mid terms, and our benevolent headmaster decided to reward her by getting her a job!” Kizakura gave off an odd impression in his voice, and the way her waved the papers around as if they were nothing... like he didn’t agree with what the headmaster was doing. Why though? Hajime thought that that would be a perfect reward... “Anyway, I better go deliver it now. I hear she’s the type that’ll bite your head off if you approach her.” Despite his words, Kizakura didn’t truly seem to care, absentmindedly shrugging his shoulders as he plodded on his way. “... plus, if I’m late for homeroom again, Mr. Student Council Prez’ll tear me apart for my ‘tardiness’...”

With his only obstacle gone, Hajime rapt his knuckles against the door to the headmasters room, waiting for the call to enter. When that call of permission came... Hajime gulped, swallowing down his burgeoning terror, before pushing the door open. 

Unlike the last time he had been in the office, the headmaster looked incredibly organised and professional; his desk was almost entirely free of paperwork, and there was no alcohol to be found... as far as Hajime could tell. “Oh? Mr. Hinata? What are you doing here?” There was slight apprehension in the headmasters voice; maybe he though Hajime was here to resign from his position?

Respectfully, Hajime bowed. “Mr. Kirigiri, would... would it be possible for me to begin those catch-up lessons I was promised as part of my contract?”

Hajime’s guess about the reason behind the headmasters own fears seemed right on the money, since he clearly was not expecting that. “That’s what you want? Well... I don’t see why not. After school today, go to the homeroom class on the third floor of this building, the teacher there will be able to help you. We already told her that you might be applying for them, so I don’t think it’ll come as a surprise to her that you’ll show up.”

“... i-is that it?”

“Huh? What do you mean?” The headmaster was obviously taken aback by Hajime’s question, but he had to understand why, right? This was... way too easy. Like... waaaaaay too easy for this school. 

“Just... I don’t have to sign anything? There are no hoops I have to jump through to earn the right or anything?”

“Of course not. This concerns your education, doesn’t it? As your headmaster, why should I let anything get in the way of your desire to learn?” On paper, that sounded truly wonderful to hear from the headmaster... however, that belief seemed to have been the one that enforced and endorsed some dangerous policies. Was it those beliefs that had kept everyone in school, despite the fact that murders had taken place here? Or even the fact that Miaya’s was seemingly covered up...

Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, saving them for another time, Hajime politely bowed once again. “Thank you, Mr. Kirigiri... th-that is all...” When he raised from the bow, the headmaster gave Hajime a polite nod of dismissal, and he quickly left the office. 

It was odd... although that interaction had gone even better than he could have possibly imagined, there was a bitter taste in Hajime’s mouth. Why? Was it all because of those thoughts he’d shelved a minute ago? Maybe... probably...

As if on cue to distract him from the abyss in his mind, Hajime’s phone suddenly buzzed. A number of times as well...

Makoto: soooooooooooo how did u all do on ur exams????

Tenko: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I FLUNKED SO HAAAAARRRRRRRRDDDDD!!!!!!!!

Hiyoko: What a surprise... (-_-)

Tenko: HEY!!!

Hajime: Not so great, I got a pretty middling score...

Hiyoko: so an average score for an average guy? (^o^)/

Tenko: wow its hard 2 get mad wen u use emotes it makes the worst stuf sound so cute!!

Chiaki: it’s okay Hajime! Me and Hiyoko only did okay as well!

Hiyoko: Oh shut up! Don’t even lie! You always get in the top two in the class! 

Chiaki: (o_o;;)

Makoto: maybe i shouldve just asked l8r...

The dining hall was always somewhat busy at lunch periods; today it felt fit to burst. That figured though, with the results of the midterms out today, many were eager to share their scores... be that for better or worse. Tenko’s dramatic wailing stood out even amongst the rest of the noise, for an example of one of the extremes. 

Shuichi on the other hand was much happier to sit in silence, regarding his own scores anyway. They were up for everyone to see regardless, no one needed him to tell them what he got. Besides, when you’re one of the top in the class, it always just looks like you’re bragging if you talk about your scores...

“Ugh, if only we got tested on stuff I knew! I mean, I’m Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars! I’ve aced all my astronaut exams, so if those papers were catered to us individually, I’d be one of the best in the school!” Kaito... he was less willing to stay quiet about his exams. It wasn’t as if he’d done poorly or anything; he just expected better of himself. It also probably hurt his ego that his two ‘sidekicks’ scored higher than he did. 

Thankfully, Kaede was willing to speak where Shuichi wasn’t, and eagerly engaged with Kaito’s argument. “That’s a good point actually. Shouldn’t we get tests made specifically for us, instead of just general ones? It’s really not fair for students like Gonta as it is...”

“Why not talk to the student council then? That’s what they’re there for...” Maki; ever the realist. 

Usually, Kaito or Kaede probably would have challenged Maki in some way- the age old clash of realists versus idealists- but Kaito seemed too distracted by something else to bother. “Hey, Maki Roll, what was that thing that teacher gave you earlier?”

Since Shuichi rarely attended homeroom anymore, this was something he was almost entirely in the dark about, having only vaguely heard that a teacher came his class that morning. He hoped it wasn’t anything bad... why would it be though? There couldn’t be anything to worry about. Right? “Oh... that. It’s stupid really...” Pouting, Maki grabbed one of her twin tails in her hands, lightly squeezing the hair in her palms. “Apparently someone was impressed by my scores, or something. I’ve been asked to start working in that new prep school for kids that the academy started a few years ago...”

Kaede slammed her hands down on the table they were sitting at, a proud glint shining in her pink eyes. “Really Maki?! That’s so cool! And an honour too, you’ve basically been asked to look after the kids that will become the best of the best once they hit high school. That’s a lot of responsibility... I don’t think I could handle that... I guess that’s why you’re the Ultimate Child Caregiver instead of me though.” Despite the slight self deprecation, Kaede giggled, obviously happy for Maki. Maki clearly wasn’t as impressed. 

“I never said I was going to do it. I don’t like kids anyway, so spending time with a bunch of entitled brats sounds like a nightmare. Or my own personal hell.”

This time, Shuichi felt that he had to speak up. Normally he wouldn’t, yet he felt compelled to. “Really Maki? I think it would be a great opportunity for you. Y-you might even be invited to work at that school full time after you graduate. I think you sh-should go for it.”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion.” Maki’s cold and blunt remark instantly put Shuichi on ice- of course she didn’t want his opinion, Maki didn’t need him telling her what to do with her life. 

It seemed Kaito fell into the same trap that he had then... “Listen to Shuichi, Maki Roll. My bro is a smart guy, and Kaede’s got the right idea too. Sure, you might hate it and wanna quit, but you’ll never know unless you try, will you?” When Kaito said it, it sounded so much better than when he did. When Shuichi tried to tell Maki to go for it, he’d sounded so weak... whereas Kaito always sounded so confident, so assured. It was persuasive, if nothing else. 

And that charm that Kaito possessed clearly work its magic. Maki scoffed, tossing her hair behind her shoulder. “... fine. I’ll consider giving it a try.”

Shuichi wanted to articulate that he thought that that would be a great idea; the words never quite left his lips. Maybe he just didn’t really know what to say to her... he never had this problem when they were alone, only when they were with their other friends. Why? What sort of anxiety was getting in his way?

Perhaps... it was a feeling of inadequacy. Maki was getting offered a job because of her talent. She now fit right in alongside Kaito and Kaede. Kaito was already primed to be an astronaut- all he had to do was graduate in three years. Kaede constantly performed piano recitals in venues big and small, for nobles and aristocrats, and everyday people like him. Everyday people... like him... no progress had been made on the case recently. None. Why...? Why was he not getting the same results as all of his friends? He was supposed to be a detective... that was his job... and he couldn’t even do that right...

Standing before the door to class 3-B, Hajime found an odd cocktail of emotion swirling inside of him. While he had been briefly dragged here once before, this time it was for his own purposes. This was his moment... his chance to be taught by a Main Course teacher. These catch up lessons would be the closest he would ever get to feeling like a real Ultimate...

Near giddy with both excitement and nerves, Hajime reached out to the sliding door, shaky fingers gripping the handle. Hajime opened the door. He was inside of-

“Took you long enough to show up! I’ve been on call for over a month waiting for you. Were you scared after you met me for the first time? Did I leave a bad impression on you?” Almost as soon as the door slid open, Hajime was greeted by a face he’d seen before, the one other time he’d been here. 

“I uh... I’m sorry, Ms... Yukizome?” The teacher pouted back at Hajime, hands planted firmly on her hips. 

“Now now, I already told you, you can just call me Chisa. Even with my students, I like to keep formalities to a minimum... I’m pretty sure I already told you something like that too, didn’t I?” Wait... did she really just call him one of her students? That fuzzy feeling was rekindled in his chest- he was going to be taught by a real teacher from the Main Course... and she was treating him as if he were an Ultimate...! Okay, maybe not, it was more like a by proxy thing; still, this was like a dream come true. If he had lacked self restraint, Hajime was positive he’d be wearing an paradoxical combination of one of those innocently goofy grins Makoto often bore combined with Hiyoko’s wide smirk. 

“M-maybe you did... but it has been a month, I don’t really remember...”

“Exactly my point!” Chisa launched a finger up to his face, lightly flicking the tip of his nose. “I still can’t believe you waited this long. You’re lucky I’m not first come first served.”

With an index finger lightly rubbing the spot on his nose where he’d been hit, Hajime threw up a questioning eyebrow. “Huh? What do you mean by that exactly?”

Chisa’s expression could only really be called childlike, an innocent smile reaching up to closed eyes. Spinning on her heel, Chisa glided over to the podium at the front of the room, a hand dramatically extended to point at the front row. A... girl was already sitting down at a desk. A girl he recognised. It was difficult to forget that fiery red hair. 

Chisa must’ve recognised the spark of remembrance that shot across his countenance. “Do you two already know each other?”

Hajime shook his head. “Uh, not really... I’ve just seen her a couple of times is all. She-“ No, he couldn’t just talk about Sato, could he? Not in front of her... that would be cruel, not to mention insensitive. 

“We’ve never spoken, but we’ve certainly seen each other before. When I’d do go the Reserve Course for lunch sometimes.” Cutting right to the chase, the red haired girl didn’t mince her words- so, was she comfortable talking about it then? Regardless, Hajime felt uneasy even thinking about it...

Evidently, Hajime must’ve been the only one feeling even remotely uncomfortable about that situation, since Chisa’s cheery voice sliced through air with absolute ease. “That’s great then! You two can briefly introduce yourselves, while I grab some texts for us to use...” Deftly, Chisa ducked down behind her podium, and began loudly rummaging around for whatever she needed. Wait, there were shelves in her podium?

“Is she... always like this?” Hajime nervously laughed as he took a seat next to the girl, offering out his hand to her. “Hajime Hinata. Nice to, uh, ‘meet’ you...?”

“Mahiru Koizumi. As for Ms. Yukizome, yes, she is usually this energetic. Quite the compliment to my class. Uh, for better or worse.” Mahiru lightly chuckled as she took Hajime’s hand in a firm shake. 

With the time before Chisa came back out though, there was something Hajime wanted to ask Mahiru about. “Say... I can’t believe you remembered me. It’s not like we ever spoke, and I’m not really that memorable...”

The confused look Mahiru gave him only managed to also make him confused, her scrunched eyebrows and small smile made it seem like it was obvious that she would have remembered him. “Maybe so, but I’m quite good with faces. I... try to never forget a face, no matter what...” Melancholy lingered in her words. Hajime didn’t press her any further. 

Thankfully, Chisa arose soon after, slamming down a thick text book onto her podium. “Ah...! Here we go. Let’s cover some Japanese history today!” Spontaneous, wasn’t she?

Before she could start with anything else, Hajime raised his hand. “Umm, Ms, I mean, Chisa? I... well, is this going to be helpful for both of us? Are you going to teach us from the Reserve or Main Course syllabus?”

“I’m sorry? Hajime, you both cover the same topics. Do you not know how the Main Course exams work?” 

“Wait... you do? But why? Surely the Ultimates should be learning much more advanced-“

Chisa playfully rolled her eyes before he could finish. “Really? Oh, you sound like those old geezers on the school board, why should you two learn anything different? Ultimate or Reserve student, you’re still a student at Hope’s Peak. Of course you learn the same things.”

“Mm-hmm,” Mahiru hummed, turning her head towards Hajime. “Both Reserve Course students and Ultimates take the same final exams; Ultimates just also have an exam tailored specifically to their talent. At the end of the day, that’s the only exam that really matters for us, but it is nice to have the extra credentials that other students have. Technically the normal classes are optional, since you don’t need to pass the tests to graduate, though most students do attend the lessons.”

Really? But... Hajime had always been under the impression that there was a huge, impassable chasm between normal students like him and Ultimates... was he, and so many other Reserve Course students, just plain wrong? Was he truly so ignorant about a group of people he admired so much? 

The clicking of chalk against the blackboard snapped him back to reality. “Enough daydreaming Hajime! Let’s get down to business. I’m sure a lot of this will just be revision for you Hajime, but Mahiru has an entire month of work to catch up to...”

The hour long study session flew by significantly faster than Hajime had expected; it was as if time had adopted the very same energy that powered Chisa. Her teaching style was just as vibrant as her personality- scribbles adorned the blackboard (doodles of some historical figures mixed in amongst actual notes), and every word she spoke dripped with passion and flair. Yet it was never too much too quickly, she lectured at the perfect pace for Hajime to keep up with. 

Having finished packing away the notes he’d taken, Hajime stood from his desk, and bowed to Chisa. “Thank you for your time Chisa. That was very valuable.”

“Pfffft...” Looking up, Hajime saw Chisa trying to hold back... laughter? “Oh, Hajime... you really need to lighten up a little. There’s really no need to be so stiff with me.” Taken aback, Hajime didn’t know what to say in return, so Chisa simply carried on. “I’m going to be doing these sessions everyday for a while. You don’t have to come to all of them, but my door is always open for you. And before you go today...” Chisa flashed a peace sign over at the side of the classroom for some reason. Out of curiosity, Hajime turned to follow wherever she was aiming the gesture, only to be blinded by a bright flash. 

“What a goofy face...” Stars still in his eyes, Hajime only heard Mahiru’s voice getting closer- he couldn’t quite see her. Or the photo she’d apparently just taken. 

“G-goofy? If it looks weird, just take another photo... and why did you even take one in the first place?” Rubbing at his eyes began to clear away the fuzz in them, only to reveal a slightly angry Mahiru aggressively pointing a finger at him. 

“Absolutely not! I never retake a photo. You haven’t even seen it, so it’s not like you’d know if it’s bad or not anyway.”

“You could’ve at least turned the flash off!”

“Oh, don’t be such a baby, Ms. Yukizome handled in just fine!”

“That’s probably because-“ Their argument was abruptly cut short by a firm hand on one of each of their shoulders. The degree of authority simply in Chisa’s grip was terrifying. 

“Now now you two, stop fighting. Is this really something to be getting upset over anyway? Mahiru, why don’t you tell Hajime why you took the photo in the first place?”

Sighing, Mahiru cocked her head to the side, avoiding eye contact with Hajime. “It’s for my portfolio. That’s what I’ll be submitting at the end of the year for my final exam. Since I’ve missed a month of photography, Ms. Yukizome suggested that I document these sessions as well as my usual photos...”

“It’s a great idea, right? It proves just how dedicated you are to catching up after you missed out on a month of school. That sort of resilience really befits our little mother hen, doesn’t it?” Releasing Mahiru’s shoulder, Chisa eagerly ruffled the photographers hair, an action Mahiru didn’t seem too pleased about, despite the tiny blush that flecked across her cheeks. “How’s that for motivating you to come back to our lessons Hajime? You wouldn’t want to let Mahiru fail her finals, would you?”

What was with this sudden guilt tripping? Mahiru wasn’t having any of it, however. “Ms. Yukizome, please. Don’t pressure him. And saying that makes it sound like you doubt my abilities...”

Hajime wasn’t sure which side to take here; he didn’t really feel any pressure from Chisa, but he understood where Mahiru was coming from. “No, it’s okay, I did intend to come back fairly frequently, I think I-“

Once again, Chisa cut him off, this time with a snap of her fingers. “Say, Hajime? You don’t need to go to your morning classes because of your contract, do you? But I’ve heard that you have been anyway. Pushing yourself to stay alert and learn isn’t going to help you in the long run. So, why don’t you start spending your mornings here? We have an open seat in the back after all. Our class will certainly liven up your mornings, and if you just feel like napping through registration, we’ve got a resident sleeper already- you’ll fit right in.”

Was this real? Was this real life? Hajime hadn’t died in some freak accident he didn’t remember and had already ascended to heaven, right? He... was genuinely being asked to join a class on the Main Course... not for real, but the sentiment was close enough for him. “I... I umm... uhh... i-if you wouldn’t mind... I’d love to! I mean, it would be a pleasure! An honour! A-“

“Jeez, it’s not that big a deal.” Maybe it wasn’t to Mahiru, but for Hajime this may well end up being the single greatest moment of his life. 

Chisa smiled in that cheerfully upbeat way she had for the past hour. “That’s wonderful. In that case Hajime, we’ll see you tomorrow morning. I can’t wait to introduce you to the rest of the class.”

Hajime couldn’t wait either. Not only was he going to be in with a class of Ultimates, but this was Hiyoko and Chiaki’s class, as well as Sonia, Gundham’s. He was already acquainted with so many of them... and now, it seemed as if he was getting the opportunity to become aquatinted with another student, and even one of the Main Course teachers. This... was too good to be true...

Thou art I... And I am thou... Thou hast established a new bond... 

It brings to thee a new hope...

Thou hast been blessed by the Empress Arcana...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Mahiru and Chisa are the second SL to have two characters belong to one Arcana, which hopefully makes more sense than having one of the party members be part of a shared Arcana. Like Chariot though, there is going to be a character that gets a little more focus than the other- and I doubt anyone will be surprised to know that Mahiru is the one getting that bonus focus.


	43. Chapter 41

Tuesday, May 21st

“Quiet down everyone, quiet down!”

Was this like performance anxiety? No, it couldn’t have been anything as grand in purpose as that... Standing outside of 3-B, Hajime could practically feel his knees knocking together, and hearing Chisa from inside wasn’t helping any of the emotional turbulence rocking around inside his body. After all, he was about to enter a room filled with people who were essentially his idols. Their chattering inside only heightened the fear he felt though, it sounded as if they were excited... excited to welcome someone new into their class... how were they going to react when they found out that he was just some Reserve Course student? How disappointed they would be...

“Come on in and introduce yourself!” Chisa’s summons left Hajime paralysed. What was he going to do? He desperately wanted to go in... to become a part of a class of Ultimates... but the knowledge that they wouldn’t be satisfied by someone like him...

The door slammed open, and Chisa stood glowering at him from the entranceway. Grabbing him by the tie, she made up his mind for him. “C’mon, don’t be shy. Introduce yourself.”

Without thinking, without even looking at any of the students in the class, Hajime bowed as deeply as he could manage. “I-I’m Hajime Hinata, a student from the Reserve Course! I-I’ll only be joining you all for homeroom, but I hope I can get along with all of you!” As quickly as he had lowered himself, he shot up; he could feel the nervous flush spreading over his entire body. He must’ve looked and sounded ridiculous...

Near the front of the class, he could see that Hiyoko had raised a hand to her forehead, blocking him from her view. Next to her though, Mahiru smiled at him, almost pityingly. Was it really so bad Hiyoko didn’t want to even look at him? Sonia still bore the same smile she always did- Hajime was beginning to suspect that it must’ve been somewhat fake, and in this situation it came across as quite condescending. Meanwhile, Chiaki... was waving at him from the back of the room. How could she do that? He felt secondhand embarrassment for her... he would have been much too ashamed to so care-freely wave to someone introducing themselves in class, even if he knew them already; not to mention the fact that she was all but admitting to being associated with someone like him...

However... there was one other person paying home exceptional attention- a boy sitting near the middle of the class. Contrasting his strikingly white hair, a menacing shadow coated his countenance, disapproval seeping from every second of eye contact he made with Hajime. Just that look sent shivers running down his spine, out pacing even the cold sweat that had accompanied his previous anxiety. 

The sudden hand placed against his back nearly made him jump out of his skin, though Chisa’s voice quickly calmed him to... a slightly less jittery state. “There you have it everyone. Be nice to our guest, and treat him like he’s one of us. Now...” Chisa pointed to the one spare desk at the back of the room, sandwiched between Chiaki and... a rather rotund boy, whose desk was littered with snacks and manga. “If you just take a seat there, we can get registration started. Feel free to stay around until the beginning of second period; I’m sure you won’t be the only one still here by then.”

Eager to disappear to the back of the class, out of everyone else’s sight, Hajime briskly walked to the seat Chisa had pointed him to. No one seemed to pay him any attention after he slunk to the back, and the registration period progressed exactly how he’d imagined- as soon as everyone present was accounted for, light chatter spread throughout the classroom. Hajime knew he’d feel out of place; he hadn’t realised just how bad it would be to jump into the same class with a group that had been together for years...

A small piece of folded paper lightly bumped into the side of his head, dropping down onto the desk in front of him. Confused, he turned his head in the direction the paper had come from. Chiaki was waving at him, a small pile of tiny paper balls stacked at the corner of her desk. “... hey Hajime,” she whispered conspiratorially, as if saying hello at that moment were an offence or something. 

“I uhh... hey Chiaki. Why... do you have so much paper on your desk?” Despite his mental criticism of her, he too found himself whispering- although part of that was because he was a little afraid of drawing attention to himself while he didn’t know why Chiaki had thrown paper at him. 

Innocently titling her head to the side, she responded in her whisper again. “Oh, just in case I missed. I wasn’t sure if I’d need more to get your attention.”

“... okay? Wh-why were you trying to get my attention...?”

Completely abandoning the subtlety she’d seemingly been angling for beforehand, Chiaki dragged her chair over to Hajime’s desk, still sitting in it. To say the scraping was loud... well there were certainly a few pairs of eyes on them now. “I just wanted to say hi. And welcome you to our class. I’m the class representative, you know, it’s my job to do this... I think.”

No matter how much he wanted to, Hajime couldn’t bring himself to be angry with Chiaki in the slightest for bringing so much unwanted attention to them, not when she looked at him that earnestly. And to be honest... it did feel rather nice for her to have thought to do that. But... “I appreciate it Chiaki... but you know I’m not really a part of your class, right? I’m only here since I don’t have to attend my first morning class because of my night job. That and Chisa has started giving me some after school lessons to catch up with the studies I’m missing out on because of it. Even ignoring all that... I could never be part of your class, not fully. I don’t have a talent after all...”

Chiaki pouted at Hajime, almost angrily. What, had he said something bad? “... that doesn’t matter...”

“Huh?”

Before he could say anymore, or Chiaki could respond, the sound of someone clearing their throat drew both of their attention. 

Sonia had silently made her way over to them, as if she’d somehow teleported right next to the two of them. “Chiaki, that was pretty dang sweet of you!” Proudly nodding, she gave Chiaki a thumbs up. “However, might I possibly steal Hajime away? Just for a brief moment. I would like to talk to him privately.” Sonia extended a finger towards the door. 

Chiaki silently nodded, but Hajime tried to put up some resistance. “H-hey, why wouldn’t you ask me? Shouldn’t I get a say?”

“Of course. You were going to say yes, weren’t you?” Something in Sonia’s voice... was excessively commanding and authoritative. There really was no way to turn her down...

Silently standing, Hajime followed Sonia out. Although... he could’ve sworn that there were multiple pairs of eyes stating daggers at him as he did. Hostile gazes... exactly what he thought he’d receive by intruding on this class... It was only when Sonia snapped her fingers that Hajime let those thoughts temporarily leave his mind. “Hajime, I must say, I am very impressed with you! You really took the initiative to help your teammate, and forge some new bonds too. It is quite awesome that you took my advice to heart.”

“I... don’t know if that’s really what I had in mind when I did any of that stuff... but thanks anyway...?” Hajime bashfully rubbed the back of his head. Being praised by Sonia wasn’t something he was actually very used to, usually she was politely telling him off for slacking on ‘forging bonds’ or improving them, or whatever.

Sonia’s demeanour suddenly darkened though, not menacingly, more so with melancholy. Seeing that... Hajime felt his entire body tensing up. “However... I’m afraid to say... you have not taken all the necessary actions. Something has been set into motion that no one could hope to stop. I’m sorry...”

“Y-you... you’re sorry? Sonia... what... what’s going to happen...? What have... what have I made happen?” A very different fear from the type he’d felt earlier began to boil in his mind, an unnerving dread...

Sonia solemnly shook her head. “My sincerest apologies. It is not my place to say. I cannot interfere in matters of fate. Only warn you...”

“Why...? What could I have done to cause... a tragedy?”

There was a pause. A lull as Sonia pondered on what to answer him with. Clearly he wasn’t about to get a direct answer... “Hajime... in every story, there is a hero and a villain. And you are the hero of your own story, yes? However, you are also the villain in someone else’s story. Let me ask you- are you certain that what you are doing is just?”

“What? Of course it is! We’re saving lives, how could that not be-“ Was Sonia talking about how they were hiding their knowledge from the police? From Kyoko and Shuichi? Then maybe she had a point... was she saying that if they’d told anyone about what they were doing, whatever was going to happen soon would be avoided?

Sonia quickly attempted to allay his new fears. “Whatever you are thinking, I can assure you that that would have changed nothing. Again, I have said too much.” Silence hung in the air. A tense silence. Hajime wasn’t sure what to say or even think. Somehow, not knowing what he could’ve changed, or done differently, made his inner turmoil infinitely worse. Once more, Sonia tried to break the silence. “Allow me to tell you something else Hajime. You may not wish to hear this, but my Master does not believe in your justice. Or any of your friends’ ideals either. It is why I have taken a much more active approach in guiding you than is strictly prohibited for a simple attendant like myself. I believe at least one of my sisters would call me foolish...” Sisters? Sonia had sisters? And based on what she just said... where they just like her too? “However, I want you to know that I believe in you. To me, you and your friends are the true heroes of this story, and I will support you no matter what!”

“Sonia... how do you know all of this? How can you know what’s going to happen next, or about all this justice stuff? Do you know who our culprit is?”

“... that is information I am not at liberty to give. That level of interference would be too significant. I’m... I’m sorry... I wish I could help you more... but the nature of my existence does not allow for it...”

Hajime should’ve felt frustrated. Or angry. Something, anything like that. Instead... he could only feel pity and defeat. For himself, sure, but for Sonia too. She truly did wish to help him, but there was something stopping her... In a way, Hajime felt he understood her plight. To want something, to want to do something, so desperately... and for it to always be out of reach...

That must’ve been why she was so eager to push for his ‘forging of bonds’- it was her way of helping him as much as she could. It was sad really... that this was how Hajime was beginning to further understand Sonia...

‘You feel like your bond with Sonia has grown deeper...’

The Sonia Nevermind Social Link has reached Rank 3.

“Ah, thank you all so much for your help. You three did an amazing job gathering all my supplies!”

“Nyeh... I can’t believe that the art room doesn’t have all the art supplies in it...” Himiko groaned as she dropped a box of wires and light scrap metal onto the art room floor. 

Angie laughed in her usually lighthearted manner. “Nya-ha-ha-ha! I know! It can be a real hassle to gather all of the appropriate materials for my works because of that. Don’t you think so too Tenko?”

“...”

“T-Tenko?” Himiko lightly tugged on Tenko’s sleeve, which finally got her attention. Himiko and herself weren’t the only ones helping gather art materials for Angie; she’d been keenly watching Hajime for the past hour that they had been moving around box after box. Hajime... clearly wasn’t himself. He looked... despondent. Kinda how she imagined she must’ve looked for a while. 

“Hmm? Oh, sorry, what were you two talking about?” So wrapped up with Hajime, she hadn’t really been paying attention to the conversations around her. Though it was a seriously difficult juggling act trying to make sure both Himiko and Hajime were safe when moving around holding boxes full of potentially dangerous equipment. 

Angie swayed back and forth, much like she had often done before... Tenko had hurt her. “Hmm? It’s not like you to be so distracted Tenko. What’s on your mind?”

Tenko figured that her forlorn stare served as an apt enough answer. The little hum Angie made certainly made it seem as if she picked up on it at least. “Do you... think he’s okay?”

Himiko didn’t have an answer for her, although Angie offered something close to one. “Why don’t you two head on out? I can talk to Hajime. I’m sure Atua will know what to say to him to spin that frown around.”

“B-but... I wanna stay with you right up until you shut yourself away again...” Himiko meekly protested, to which Angie loudly laughed. 

“Oh, silly Himiko! You are seeing me right now, aren’t you? And this is just before I get to work!”

“That’s not-“

Tenko interrupted Himiko’s protests by laying a gentle hand on her shoulder. “No... no, I think we should let Angie handle this. Uh, one thing first though...” Breaking away from the other two, Tenko strode over to Hajime, who was basically standing by himself in the corner of the room. 

When Tenko poked his back, his entire body straightened, the colour draining from his face as it whipped around to look at her. “Who-! Oh... it’s j-just you Tenko...”

His reaction had caused Tenko herself to recoil a little. What was up with him? “Uh, hey... Angie wants to talk to your for a bit, but me and Himiko are going to head off now. Swing by the gym after you’re done, okay? Consider that an order from your leader.” Without waiting for him to possibly turn her down, Tenko curtly nodded, and headed back to the other two girls. 

“What’s going to happen at the gym?” Himiko enquired. Tenko simply winked at her, putting a finger against her lips. 

“Shh, it’s gonna be a surprise. Anyway, I guess this is the last time we’ll be seeing you for a little while Angie. Make sure you’re eating and drinking while you’re working, okay? And getting in plenty of exercise, don’t forget that!”

“Nyeh... if she’s working, she isn’t going to have time to exercise like that... sounds like a pain anyway...” Himiko, rubbed her eyes sleepily as she said that. As adorable as it was, Tenko didn’t really agree with what she said. Not that Tenko would ever tell Himiko that. 

As ever, Angie giggled without a care in the world. “Thank you for the consideration Tenko, I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll see you two in a few weeks, maybe even just one if Atua is feeling extra inspired!”

What Sonia had told him at the start of the day... her ominous message had been repeating through his mind all day, dread building higher and higher, overtaking his every other thought. What was going to happen? When was it going to happen? Could he really do nothing about it? What-

“Haaaaaaajjjjiiiiimmeeeee!” He probably would have ignored Angie’s cheerful cry if she hadn’t also wrapped her arms around him from behind. 

“Ahhh! A-Angie? Wh-what is it?” Just as with Tenko, he completely failed to suppress his emotions from spilling out when Angie touched him. 

Apparently, Angie had only ‘hugged’ him in order to get his attention, since as soon as he responded she let go, sliding around to position herself in front of him. “What’s bothering you Hajime? You seem very troubled. Would you like to tell me and Atua about it?”

An innocent enough question... and it seemed to be asked out of a genuine concern... but could he really go spouting stuff like this to anyone? He shouldn’t... but it was pretty obvious he wasn’t being himself- he’d have to say something... “Yeah... I guess... Though there isn’t much to say about it, or... no, it’s just that it’s a personal problem. I just... there’s something out of my control, and I don’t know what to do about it...”

Angie didn’t miss a beat before responding. “Then forget about it.”

“I... what? I can’t just-“

“Yes you can Hajime. If it’s something that you can’t do anything about, then you are wasting your time and energy.” Tilting her head back slightly, Angie’s arms rested in a sort of mediation pose, her eyes closed. Somehow... she exuded some sort of intense wisdom looking like that. “Unless you can force a situation into your control, worrying about something like that is ultimately fruitless. You see what I mean, yes?”

“Well... I guess... but saying that I won’t worry about something is much easier said than done.”

Falling back into her regular stance, Angie took a few steps closer to Hajime, lifting herself onto her tiptoes, and clasped Hajime’s cheeks in her hands, tilting his head to force eye contact with her. “Hajime. You are too high strung. You need to learn to relax a lot more. Chill out a little. Enjoy life a little bit more. Hang out with your friends, make some new ones, or just do something you like. Stepping away from problems can open up new horizons for you to explore, and maybe even solve your problems in the meantime.”

It couldn’t be that simple... could it? And even if it was, there was no way it would work for Hajime. Not with the knowledge that he was to somehow play a part in this upcoming event... “Angie... it’s not that simple.”

“Yes it is.” Angie let go of his face, putting some space between the two of them. “It might be hard at first, but I know I’m telling you the right thing. If you’re struggling to find your escape though, Atua could easily help solve all of your problems!”

“Hah-ha... I don’t think relying on a god for personal growth is a good idea...”

Hajime had expected Angie to have a somewhat volatile reaction to that line; instead she playfully clapped her own cheeks, opening her mouth in faux-shock. “Hmm? In that case, after I’m finished with my art project, would you like me to teach you to meditate? Would that work better for you?”

Angie... she really was being sincere, wasn’t she? She was genuinely trying to help make Hajime feel a little better. For how strange she could be, deep down, she really was a kind soul. There was no doubt in Hajime’s mind that there was nothing that would cure his worrying nature, though if Angie was being kind enough to try and help, he couldn’t turn her down. “... I would like that Angie. To learn mediation with you. So... thank you...”

That beaming grin she flashed when he accepted her proposal... it was bright, maybe even bright enough to lead him out of this darkness he’d somehow fallen into...

‘You feel like your bond with Angie has grown deeper...’

The Angie Yonaga Social Link has reached Rank 4.

Hajime repeatedly looked between Tenko and the keikogi she held out to him. She was already dressed in her own... did this mean what he thought it did? “Tenko... are you asking me to...?”

“Fight me? Kinda. We’re going to spar Hajime. Together. Right now. And you can’t back out, Himiko has already agreed to be the ref!” How did that have anything to do with him backing out? Whatever, it wasn’t like he was going to back out anyway- he finds himself interacting with Tenko far too often to try that and get away with it. 

“Alright... but why do you want to spar with me? Surely Sakura would be a better-“

“Nope! Right now, you’re my only option. You’re the only person I want to spar with. Now go and change!” Why was Tenko acting so insistent about this? Paradoxically, Tenko could sometimes be so simple that it was entirely impossible to understand her. 

So that was how Hajime found himself in a sort of face-off with Tenko in the gym, though the difference between them was like night and day. Thin and shaky, he could feel the occasional tremble jolt through his legs as he stood opposed to Tenko, confidently situated with her arms held defensively in front of her, and one leg extended back. “Remember Hajime! In this fight, hold nothing back! Put every emotion you have into every last strike!”

Hajime couldn’t respond, his mouth was too dry to form words. Tenko... fighting her in any circumstances would be like trying to out-dance Hiyoko- utterly impossible, so with a referee like Himiko, absentminded, there was a significant part of him that feared for his safety. But... there was no way Tenko would intentionally hurt him... was there?

It probably didn’t even matter. Tenko flew at him with unparalleled speed. He barely had time to see it, let alone dodge out of the way. Her leg swept under Hajime’s; she gripped his right arm before he could hit the ground... only to flip him over her shoulder, and then send him crashing into the ground. If he hadn’t been doing all that training with Tenko, he probably would have called it quits right there; he rolled forward before Tenko could pin him, regaining his footing. Again, Tenko leapt for him, though since he was a little more prepared this time, he narrowly avoided her swift kick, getting in a jab of his own. Which was evidently a huge mistake. In the brief time it took to extend and retract his arm, Tenko grabbed his wrist again; instead of just flipping him over this time, she pulled him in close, and knocked him to the floor via a knee in the gut. 

“Okay... okay... I’m done...” It did feel pathetic to bow out so quickly, though who could blame him? He was fighting Tenko in a sport that she invented, how could he not lose? He was impressed he’d even lasted beyond one throw... “Sorry... I doubt that was helpful for you...”

“Nah. I got exactly what I wanted out of that,” Tenko offered out a sporting hand as she spoke, a friendly smile greeting Hajime as he gazed up at her from the floor. 

“Y-you did?” Hajime grunted slightly as Tenko pulled him up in one swift, strong motion. 

“Yep, I did.” Hajime wasn’t actually expecting her to elaborate, which meant that he was caught even more off guard by what she said next than he normally would have been. “There’s something that’s deeply troubling you, isn’t there? And you feel like you’re responsible for it.”

“Huh...? How did-?”

“I can always tell what my sparring partners are thinking and feeling. It’s a gift of Neo Aikido.”

“That’s... quite the gift...”

Tenko resolutely nodded her head. “That’s not all Neo Aikido is good for though. It’s a great form of expression, which is just what you need.”

Hajime raised an eyebrow at her. “What? I need... a form of expression?”

“Yeah. You know, like painting. But with martial arts instead.” What a... very Tenko comparison to make. “My point is, I think that’s what’ll help you overcome this hurdle in your life. It’s no good keeping all that emotion bottled up inside. Let it out! I mean, you should know that just as well as I do... I haven’t just forgotten what you did on Sunday.”

Hajime gently grasped his upper arm, bashfully smiling at nothing in particular. “You’re right... I guess I am in a similar position to the one that you were last week. I just don’t think it’s something so easily resolved though...”

“Then take it to heart, and learn from your mistake!” Tenko suddenly shouted, not only startling Hajime, but also alerting Himiko, her head spinning to face them. “I don’t know what’s happened, but if it’s really so bad, you have to just move on. Use this experience to train your heart. So that next time... you won’t make the same mistake...” He could tell that those words weren’t just meant for him. Even still, it was probably good for him to hear something like that. 

“Thanks Tenko... I appreciate it...” He couldn’t tell her that the thing he was worrying over hadn’t happened yet- that would just make him look even more ridiculous. 

Although... this incident had shown him something. Or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it had proved something- Hajime truly had people in his life who cared about him. Both Angie and Tenko hadn’t hesitated to offer solutions to his vague worries. In fact, they could tell right away that something was wrong with him. And now... he stood exchanging smiles with Tenko. Friendly smiles. Smiles of respect for each other. It was certainly unfortunate that it had taken quite serious personal issues to do so, but he and Tenko had finally taken a step beyond just being teammates...

‘You feel like your bond with Tenko has grown deeper...’

The Martial Artists Social Link has reached Rank 4.


	44. Chapter 42

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I’m sorry this took a while to come out. This time, it was less because I got too busy to write a lot, and more so because of an upcoming chapter... it was one of the things I wrote alongside the first ten chapters about a year ago, and I’ve been constantly changing it. It’s something I want to be perfect; no matter what. It’s not an especially long chapter, but it is a very important one. That and I’ve been having a little bit of trouble with the next Persona user... but I’ll address that later. I can’t promise that updates will be more frequent, I’m still not completely happy with how this upcoming chapter is, but it’s in a better place than before at least.

Wednesday, May 22nd

“Hajime? Are you okay?” 

A soft voice, and gentle shake of his arm, stirred Hajime from his short nap on the desk he was sat at. After the panic that had swept him off of his feet yesterday, he was exhausted, so he’d taken up Chisa’s offer to just sleep most of the morning registration period. That had been his intention anyway, but someone was apparently intent on that not happening. That someone being Chiaki. “Hmm...? I’m fine, yeah. Why do you ask?”

Chiaki fiddled with the red ribbon around her collar, her shoulders ever so slightly hunched. “Hajime... Tenko told me that you were feeling bad about something yesterday... sorry, are you okay now? Am I just bringing up something that you’d rather forget about...?”

“Oh, no no no, it’s nothing like that, you aren’t bothering me at all, I promise. And it’s not that I’m not worrying about it, right now I’m just a little tired is all.” Chiaki’s wounded demeanour forced Hajime to try to justify his mild dismissiveness. Seeing a friend of his even slightly uncomfortable because of him wasn’t something that sat right with Hajime. Although, he certainly wasn’t eager to dredge up that whole scenario from yesterday either... then again, Tenko had basically told him to express himself more in order to release that stress, so maybe he shouldn’t act so hesitant...

“Mmm... okay then... if you need to talk, I’ll listen. I’m your class rep, and your friend, it’s what I’m here for... I think...” Once more, Chiaki laid a gentle hand against his arm. It was comforting. As was the warm smile she showed him. In a matter of seconds, Hajime had found himself lost in that warmth- to the extent that he didn’t sense anything off or out of the ordinary when the fingers against his arm tensed. It was only when an unforeseen hand slammed down onto his desk that Hajime regained awareness of his surroundings- he reeled back in his chair, pulling himself out of Chiaki’s light hold. 

“Keh...! Minion! I have heard your cries of agony! What, prey tell, has summoned the liquid salt from within those distrusting eyes?” Apparently, even Gundham was worried about him... Though Hajime had a sneaking suspicion that Sonia had something to do with Gundham’s concern, considering that there was no possible way he could’ve known about yesterday otherwise. 

“I... sorry, what did you just say?” Even if Hajime could surmise that Gundham was trying to act empathetically, that didn’t mean he could decipher what he was saying. 

“Feh, even now you fail to comprehend the purpose and meaning of my tongue? Truly, Hajime Hinata, you deserve your rank at the bottom of the pecking order in my army!” Crossing his arms, Gundham stared purposefully into nothingness... or probably just a wall. 

Chiaki tilted her head to the side, inquisitively. “Hmm? Army? Tongue? What... sort of relationship do you two have?”

“Err, I can assure you, it’s not anything like what you’re thinking!” Hajime wasn’t actually sure what Chiaki was thinking, but he really didn’t want to run the risk of any sort of misunderstanding. “We’re kinda friends... Gundham is just, uh, being Gundham, I suppose...”

“Gah...!” Something in what Hajime had just said seemed to trigger some kind of violent response from Gundham, judging by how far he reeled back. “Do not... pretend to be so familiar with me... we are leagues apart in magical level! To me, you are naught but a mediocre soldier amongst a sea of your superiors! If you forget your station, you might as well lose that station!” As quickly as he’d come by, Gundham left; with a flick of his scarf over his shoulder, he stormed off. Although any effect he was going for was lost when he pulled it up to his cheeks. 

“That... was odd.” Chiaki’s simple summary couldn’t have been more accurate- Gundham had crashed their ‘conversation’ and abandoned it in a matter of sentences... and Hajime hadn’t even offered any appreciation for the concern Gundham had tried to show him. Certainly, Hajime would have to remedy that later.

“Hey, you’ve been in his class for longer than I’ve known him, you shouldn’t be surprised, right?”

Chiaki watched Gundham’s back as he left the classroom, a fairly blank expression coating her face. “Mhmm... you’re right... I think. I should know Gundham, but I don’t. Not very well...”

Hajime hadn’t meant to, but it seemed to him as if bringing that up actually hurt Chiaki... “Oh, uh... I wouldn’t worry about it too much Chiaki. Gundham... well, he can be a bit much for most people. At least, that’s how he comes across to me. So don’t blame yourself if you don’t think you understand him all that well.”

Hajime had suspected that that would be the end of their conversation, so Chiaki’s last words caught him a tad off guard. “... do you think he gets lonely?”

That wasn’t something Hajime had really thought about. At all. Not in regards to Gundham. He really seemed to enjoy his act as this ‘lord of shadows’, purposely isolated from everyone else... but Chiaki’s question made Hajime wonder; did Gundham choose to adopt his personality and become a loner, or did being lonely create the oddball personality instead?

“Watch in amazement, as I, Miu Iruma, blow your minds so fuckin’ hard that you’ll be on your knees beggin’ for more!” On Miu’s workbench, she had something covered with a tarp. It was... certainly lumpy...

Hajime sighed. Of course, the day he decided to come spend some time in the tech lab, Miu would be putting on one of her usual shows... “Miu, that makes no sense...”

“Oh, shut up dicklet! It’s a figure of speech!” Miu stuck her tongue out at Hajime while she flipped him off. How pleasant...

“P-please don’t f-fight you two...! Why d-don’t you just show us your invention Miu?” Thankfully Chihiro could quell the situation before it really spun out of hand. It felt as if both Hajime and Miu couldn’t bring themselves to combat her... funny, the hierarchy of the tech lab wasn’t so clear cut as it seemed at first glance. Despite how meek and quiet we appeared, Chihiro kinda ran the show here. Or at least kept in on track. 

“S-sure...” Miu whimpered before ripping the sheet off of her invention. It... looked just like a metal backpack... “Ta daaaaaaa! Isn’t it beautiful?!”

Chihiro politely clapped, but Hajime failed to repress his disappointment. “Uh, Miu? What is it? You aren’t going to tell us you invented backpacks, are you?” With Miu, that unfortunately seemed like a definite possibility. 

Miu didn’t take that comment so well. Fuming, she slammed a hand down onto the bench. “Fuck you too, bitch!” The hand she hadn’t slammed down gently rubbed the backpack, as if to console it. “This bad boy is waaaaaaaaay more than just a backpack. It’s a prototype for...” Miu effortlessly picked the device up- apparently it wasn’t quite as heavy as it’s metal appearance would have one believe- and slung it onto her back. Upon pressing a comically large red button on the side of it, a mechanical whir buzzed from the machine, until two robotic arms slid out from the ‘bag’.

“Whoa...” Now that was something Hajime thought was worth getting excited about. For a few seconds, words evaded him. “That’s... pretty impressive Miu.”

“Yeah yeah, you say that now, changed your tune real quick, didn’t ‘cha?” She wasn’t wrong...

“Oh! So that’s why it’s like a backpack, i-it stores the cables not being used inside of it, a-as well as the actual hands when they aren’t being used...!” Chihiro appeared to be even more impressed than Hajime, her large eyes twinkling in amazement. 

“I’m glad someone gets it!” Proudly puffing out her chest, Miu rubbed the spot just under her nose with an index finger. “You ain’t even seen the coolest part yet though!” Bounding to the very back of the room, Miu grabbed one of her smaller boxes, and from it pulled out two metal gloves. When she put them on, she pointed between Hajime and Chihiro, the corresponding robotic arm mimicking her own. 

“Wow Miu, that’s so cool!” Chihiro brought her small hands up to her chest, her equally small fists quivering in excitement. Figures that she’d be super into this stuff.

“Heh-heh! I know, right! What can I say, I’ve got some really talented hands!” The innuendo seemingly slipped by Chihiro’s notice, but it certainly made Hajime groan and roll his eyes. “Yeah, you know, with the sports thingy happenin’ in July, I’ve got a ton of work to do for us. I need to make stuff that’ll guarantee our victories in every event. Uh, since the drafts don’t take place till, like, the end of June, so I don’t actually know what we’ll be doin’...”

“... so you’re making stuff to cheat in sports?” Even though Hajime wouldn’t even be able to compete, it still didn’t feel right to endorse cheating. 

“Uh, no, duh! I’m makin’ this shit to fix the problems that a ton of us non-athletes are gonna face! Use that tiny brain for a moment- you think Cherry Pie here could ever do well in basketball? ‘Course not, she’s a midget, but these hands’ll fix that no problem. She could dunk with the best of them!”

“M-Miu...! You made these for me? I-I... I don’t know what to say...” Chihiro was genuinely flattered, by the looks of things, an appreciative smile spread over her face, alongside a bright blush befitting the ‘cherry’ nickname, in spite of the fact that Hajime was quite certain Miu had just insulted her. 

Miu adopted a similar flush, taking a strand of her hair between her fingers, and began staring off at nothing. That did mean, however, that her robotic arm just flailed around in the air- luckily not smacking anything. “N-no... it’s not like I made that just for you! I’m not very good at... uh... table tennis, so bigger hands would totally help me out too! See, it’s for both of us... plus, they’re just prototypes, I might not even let you use them when I’m done. If they’re too perfect, you know... don’t wanna waste them on someone who wouldn’t use ‘em right...”

Jeez, she really did fold like paper to Chihiro, huh? And considering Chihiro’s lack of reaction, Hajime guessed that she knew of the power she held over other people. Talk about scary...

“Hey! Put those things away! You’ll break something if you carry on swinging those around.” Caught up in Miu’s invention, none of them had heard Yasuke entering the tech lab. And he wasn’t alone either. Standing behind him was a fairly tall young man, with long blue hair and a stubbled chin. The man looked quite lanky as well; his fairly large coat barely managing to conceal his slim figure within. He was definitely too old to be a student- a member of the school board maybe? Hajime had certainly never seen him before. 

“Or what?! This is my lab just as much as it is yours, so I’ll do what I fuckin’ want! ‘Sides, if I break anything, I’ll rebuild it, I made most of the shit in here anyway!” Miu spat back at Yasuke, something he clearly didn’t take kindly to. Peering down his nose at Miu in disgust, he skulked over to the bench, his voice a low hiss. 

“Miu. Get out. Now. You know full well that I’m the boss here, and you’re at the bottom of this chain of command. So listen to me for once, and get the fuck out.”

Even though none of that was directed at Hajime or Chihiro, they both pulled back, so one could only imagine how someone like Miu would react. Her head hung low, it looked as if her body was caving in on itself, her arms apologetically folded in front her her. “Wh-what’s your problem...! Wh-why should I-I g-get out...!”

“Because the only thing that’s harder to close than your legs is your mouth, and I can’t have you fucking this up. So leave. And take your cheerleaders with you too.” Out of the corners of his eyes, he glared at Hajime and Chihiro. It had been a while since Hajime had been reminded of how scary Yasuke was... and this was a very helpful reminder as to why he was so thankful he hadn’t interacted with this side of the man that much. 

However, unexpectedly, there was something that calmed the proverbial storm, and that was the rough voice of the man who had entered with Yasuke. “Hey, c’mon, cut the pretty lady some slack.” The man cast his gaze over Miu, as if he were appraising her. “Miu, right? Miu Iruma? The first year genius Hope’s Peak got on board for this project? I’ve heard a lot about you. Good stuff, of course.” Reaching into his coat, he pulled out a little card. A business card. “Gimme a call sometime, I’m sure I can do even more for you than this school can.” With a wink, he handed the card to a still shuddering Miu, who clutched the card to her chest, not even reading it. 

“Keep it in your damn pants, Towa-boy,” snapped Yasuke, his snarl redirected back to Miu in no time. Without another word, she scrambled out of the lab, and another glare chased Hajime and Chihiro out as well. 

“That... was quite intense...” Chihiro whispered under her breath, her own tiny shoulders hunched in fear as well. After evacuating the tech lab, the three of them had only migrated slightly down the corridor before they’d resumed chatting. 

Miu clacked her tongue against her teeth, scoffing. “I know, right? I mean, that bastard actually just tried to imply that Hajime is ranked higher than me in tech-relevance. What a fuckin’ joke!”

“I really don’t think that’s what Chihiro meant...” Hajime sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Anyway, who was that guy with Yasuke? He... seemed kinda creepy, the way he tried hitting on you.”

“Oh, he’s-“ Chihiro was promptly cut off by Miu’s guffawing.

“Dunno, but he must think he’s some hot shit if he thinks he can score with me!” Flipping the card over in her hands a few times, Miu’s eyes lit up in realisation. “Oh SHIT! That guy was Haiji Towa! He’s next in line to inherit the Towa Group, probably the biggest, most successful tech company in the world, let alone Japan! And HE, wants ME?! Stand aside you worthless slugs, I have ‘ta get back in there! That dick is my way to eternal glory!” Pushing Hajime out of the way, Miu furiously ran back to the tech lab, and started tugging on the door with equal ferocity. Unfortunately for her, Yasuke must’ve locked them out, since it wouldn’t open, so she simply resorted to frantic banging on the door. 

Someway, somehow, Miu always managed to both surprise and disappoint Hajime almost every time he was with her. Without a doubt, Chihiro would be his only avenue of clarification here, and she did seem to have a good idea about Haiji anyway. “Umm... Chihiro, what’s all this about Towa Group? I’ve never heard of them...”

“Y-you haven’t?” Chihiro’s eyes widened in shock. Were they really so big a deal? “E-even if you don’t think you have, I’m s-sure that you’ve at least used a product from made by the Towa Group! They rose to prominence a few years ago, a-and they make just about anything and everything! There’s even a r-rumour that they’re thinking of creating their own artificial island!”

“Wow... so they really are a big deal then... but why are they here?”

Chihiro held a nervous finger to her lip, chewing the end of one of her finger nails. “Umm... I’m not supposed to say... b-but I think it’ll be alright for y-you to know... uhh... Towa Group is actually the ones who are providing us with the funding for the Neo World Programme.”

“Wait... a company as large as Towa is funding a school project?!” As surprised as Hajime was to hear that, maybe he shouldn’t have been, considering the fact that this was Hope’s Peak after all. “This project must be even more important than I’d thought...”

Chihiro nodded. “I k-know. Even I was surprised when Yasuke told me about it... I-I still have no idea how he managed to convince them to fund the programme...”

That shocked Hajime perhaps even more. “Yasuke? He was the one who got them on board? Not the school itself?” Really? Yasuke? Uncharismatic and grumpy Yasuke managed to hook in an up-and-coming tech giant to fund a school project? That... was seriously impressive. 

Chihiro nodded once again. “Mhmm... actually, that w-was what convinced me to j-join the project full-time. I uhh... actually, c-could I show you something?”

How could Hajime possibly say no to the sweet little face that peered up at him when she asked that? “Of course. What is it?”

Turning around, Chihiro beckoned for Hajime to follow her. “I-it’s a little project I’ve been w-working on for a few years... I h-hope you find it interesting...”

Of all the places for Chihiro to lead Hajime to, he wasn’t expecting the student council room. “Umm, j-just wait here a second Hajime. I p-promise this’ll be q-quick...” Chihiro’s small hand rapt against the door, while she bounced on the heels of her feet. 

When the door swung open, Hajime was certainly surprised to see a very rugged boy lean against the door frame. Hajime had seen him before, that first time Chihiro had taken him to see Celeste- so he was a part of the student council? That... was unexpected. “Hm? Oh, ‘sup Chihiro.” The boy shone a toothy grin at the tiny girl. Comparing the two... Chihiro only appeared even more fragile standing in front of him. “Uh, wadda’ya need?”

“Hello M-Mondo, c-could I possibly have my laptop for a moment. Uh, a-assuming Taka isn’t using it...”

“‘Course, I’ll grab it for ya real quick!” Flashing a thumbs up, Mondo disappeared into the room, though his gravelly voice still rang loud and clear for Chihiro and Hajime to hear. “Yo, bro! Can Chihiro have her computer back for a bit?” In the brief moment that the area was quiet, Chihiro turned halfway around to reassuringly smile at Hajime, quickly turning back when she heard Mondo returning. “Here ya are. We won’t be needin’ it again today, so there’s no pressure to return it.”

“Th-thank you Mondo.” Tucking the laptop under her arm, Chihiro bowed politely to Mondo, who heartily laughed in response, playfully rustling Chihiro’s hair. 

“Eh, there’s no need ‘ta thank me Chihiro. But, uh,” Mondo nodded towards Hajime. It must’ve been something about Mondo’s look, or maybe his physique, but Hajime instinctively gulped. “Who’s that dude? Seems kinda familiar...”

Walking to Hajime’s side, Chihiro laid a hand against his arm. “Th-this is Hajime, he’s a friend. H-he’s the Reserve student who’s doing the night shift with the Neo World project.”

Nervously, Hajime silently, and kinda awkwardly, waved at Mondo. “Oh, you’re that dude...” Mondo raised a hand to the back of his head, rubbing it nonchalantly. “Uh, sorry... about your job. It’s partly my bad. Anyway, catch ya later Chihiro.” Abruptly, Mondo closed the door to the student council room, leaving both Hajime and Chihiro in a confused silence. 

“Chihiro? What did he mean by that?”

“I-I’m... not sure...” Chihiro shrugged. There were a few seconds of silence between them as they both pondered what Mondo had meant, though Chihiro soon brought that to an end when she tugged on Hajime’s sleeve. “Umm... let’s head outside... I-I’ll show you my personal project out there...”

There were a lot of benches around Hope’s Peak, way too many considering that Hajime had never seen any of the kids use them. Well, aside from the bench he and Chihiro were sitting on, which was placed just in front of a lovely fountain. It created quite an idyllic atmosphere, the musical pattering of water against stone and cool refreshing breeze the blew past them, unrestricted by any buildings. 

Chihiro’s lithe fingers darted like lightning over the keys of her laptop, rotating the screen on her lap so Hajime could see it. “S-so... in m-my spare time I’ve been trying to create a... a strong AI.”

“I... don’t know what that is...” Hajime was far from fluent in techno jargon, so that truly did mean absolutely nothing to him. 

Squinting her eyes, Chihiro seemingly tried to gather her thoughts, presumably so she could easily explain the concept. “A strong AI is... well... I-I guess, most simply, it’s an AI that can pass for a human. S-So far... no one has managed to create a fully working one... a-and those AI’s are called soft AI. I-I actually, umm, have come closest to creating strong AI out of a-any programmer in the world...” Bashfully, Chihiro looked down at her feet, a warm blush decorating her round cheeks. 

It still didn’t mean an awful lot to Hajime, he wasn’t well versed in AI at all, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t recognise how amazing Chihiro must be to have achieved anything like that. “That’s incredible! And you’re trying to make something even better than what you have already?”

Chihiro eagerly nodded. “Mhmm, r-right now, my program can only do some light conversation, but I want to create an AI that acts fully human, one that can talk, and feel... I guess you could say that I’m trying to design a soul for a machine... silly, I know...”

“That... seems like quite the task. I’m sure you can do it though. And that doesn’t sound silly at all, I’m fact, that’s really incredible.” Hajime reassuringly smiled at Chihiro, who once again looked away bashfully.

“Th-thank you... I umm... I actually want to finish this... a-and present it to the Towa Group... for the past few years, it’s been my d-dream to work with them... I think combining my program with their tech could change the world... a-and... I would like nothing more than to leave the world a better place than when I entered it...”

That was Chihiro’s dream, huh? A selfless dream... in a way, despite how fundamentally different they appeared, Miu and Chihiro were actually quiet similar in a number of ways- most importantly in that they wanted to use their gifts to benefit others. They were the sort of Ultimates that Hajime truly admired, the sort he always imagined in his dreams. The ambitions those two shared... they made Hajime really think about what he wanted to do with his life. Sure, his actions in the NWP were saving lives, but a part of him wanted more. To do more for the world at large. Without a doubt, he aspired to be like Chihiro... even if he knew he’d never reach the heights of an Ultimate. 

Even so, he was glad that Chihiro had shared her dreams with him. He truly wanted to learn more about her...

‘You feel like your bond with Chihiro has grown deeper...’

The Chihiro Fujisaki Social Link has reached Rank 2.

“S-so... would you like to have a conversation with my program?”  
Chihiro held her laptop out to Hajime, and he simply couldn’t resist giving it a go...

So far, Hajime’s experience with Hope’s Peak’s garden on the fifth floor had been far from pleasant- even so, he wanted to speak with Gundham, and he just so happened to enjoy spending time up there...

Gundham wasn’t looming over the chicken coop today, however. Instead, he was simply standing in the middle of the room, staring up at that gigantic plant that towered over everything else in the garden. Actually... ‘simply’ was probably inaccurate, nothing Gundham ever did could be classified as anything close to simple. 

Hajime was rather hesitant to just approach Gundham, though that issue was easily navigated thanks to Gundham apparently realising that he was there. He didn’t turn around, but still addressed Hajime. “Halt, fiend! To what end would you seek me out? Do you wish for your flesh to be torn from your bones?!”

And he was already being threatened... in spite of that, Hajime wanted to at least try to thank Gundham for his concern earlier, even if he didn’t seem to want to hear it. “I... just wanted to say thank you, for this morning. I didn’t know that you cared.”

Gundham’s posturing ceased upon hearing Hajime’s gratitude. Turning his head halfway over his shoulder, Gundham watched Hajime with a careful eye. “Hmph! Naturally, it is the duty of any commander to console those beneath them, even those ranked as low as yourself. The foundation of my empire cannot be built upon shaky grounds, after all. Keh-heh-heh...!”

Hajime had definitely heard Gundham say something to that effect before; did he really care about these members of his ‘empire’? What did that even mean? “I... okay? That’s all I really wanted to say, so...”

As Hajime turned to leave, Gundham cleared his throat, capturing Hajime’s attention again. “Hajime Hinata...! Remember this well! Envision someone like yourself as a mere sapling. Pathetic, weak, susceptible to all manner of dangers,” Gundham finally turned to face Hajime, though he would have preferred for him to do that without also tearing into him... “However! With careful preening, and a stalwart guardian, a mere sapling may grow to become a mighty beast!” Once more, Gundham’s gaze returned to the giant plant he’d been admiring earlier. 

“Are... you...? Gundham, what are you saying exactly?” In a weird way, Hajime felt like he understood the intent behind Gundham’s words, but he wanted to hear them plain and simple from the boy himself, not through the flamboyant and grandiose words he usually used. 

Predictably, Gundham wasn’t going to give him what he wanted. Not... exactly... “... you will face hardships that will attempt to uproot you. Even so, you will survive, with the protection of your ‘gardeners’. As I have told you, I do not intend to leave my subordinates to wallow in misery. I shall elevate my army to a status that shall contest even the mightiest of legends! But-!” Suddenly, Gundham hunched over, clenching his right wrist in his left hand, a scowl engulfing his face. “As I have observed... a heaven sent emissary of the light intends to sweep you off of your feet first! I cannot allow that! There will come a time in which you must choose your loyalties, Hajime Hinata, so remember to choose your allegiances wisely...!”

Without a clue as to what Gundham was talking about, Hajime was left scratching his head in mild confusion. At the very least... he understood that Gundham wanted to be there for him. But he had no idea what this ‘emissary’ business was about. Regardless, he was thankful to know that Gundham even liked him in the first place, let alone be willing to, what, nurture him? Was he understanding that gardening metaphor correctly? Hopefully, yes... as difficult as he was to understand, it felt to Hajime that trying to comprehend Gundham’s eccentricity might end up being in his best interest... especially if he was right about Gundham’s connection to Sonia.

‘You feel like your bond with Gundham has grown deeper...’

The Gundham Tanaka Social Link has reached Rank 3.


	45. Chapter 43

Thursday, May 23rd

It’d been quite some time since Hiyoko had been able to sit quietly with Mahiru to eat lunch. Outside, in their secluded spot, round the back of the main building- it was basically their own personal spot at school. It was hard to believe that this was going to be the last year they’d get to spend together in this place, with Ibuki and Mikan too.

And to think, she almost didn’t even get that...

“Hiyoko? Are you alright?” It was only upon hearing Mahiru’s concerned voice that Hiyoko realised she hadn’t been eating. Though it wasn’t as if she had a filling lunch- but her bag of gummy bears was enough for her, no matter what Mikan said about the ‘adverse effects’ on her health.

“I’m fine. Just thinking.” Dismissing the conversation, Hiyoko tossed a gummy into her mouth. Mmm... strawberry.

Mahiru smiled through a sigh, shaking her head as she returned to her own lunch. “Are you going to tell me what you were thinking about? Or...”

Hiyoko used the time it took her to chew her gummy as an excuse to stay silent for a few moments and think. Was it worth bringing up something that could bring them both down? Then again, Mahiru could probably figure out what she was thinking anyway- Mahiru was pretty... incredible like that. “I can’t believe this is our last year at Hope’s Peak... the years have gone by so fast. I... think I’m going to miss it. Not the school part, but things like just hanging out... with you...” Hiyoko could already feel the heat rising over her face, so she turned her head away from Mahiru. Though as soon as she heard Mahiru’s cute giggle... her blush was probably impossible to hide. 

“Hiyoko, leaving school doesn’t mean that we won’t ever get to spend time together. Inevitably, we will see less of each other, sure, but that’s all a part of growing up and becoming working adults. As busy as our lives may become after graduation, I’ll always make time for you and our other friends.”

Whipping back around to face Mahiru, Hiyoko gazed up at her with pleading eyes. “Then... then... we could always have time for each other if we moved in together!” As soon as the words passed over her lips, Hiyoko wanted to slap herself. To punch the damn vocal chords that verbalised that thought she’d had. For fucks sake, why did she go and say something as dumb as that?! A war of crimson red embarrassment and ghostly white fear battled for supremacy of her complexion... the blush won out. 

To Hiyoko’s relief, Mahiru didn’t seem to take what she said too seriously though, another light laugh passing her lips. “I suppose that would be true. If we lived together we’d see each other all the time. I’m sure you’d get sick of me if you saw me that much though.”

This time, Hiyoko managed to fight back the urge to proclaim that she could never get bored of Mahiru. “Maybe I’m just starved for time with my best friend then. You did leave me alone for a month you know.” That... wasn’t any better of a response. Immediately she regretted saying that, and she turned her head away from Mahiru again, though she continuously, and nervously, glanced back to check for her reaction. She didn’t say anything so Hiyoko could only assume that she’d upset Mahiru after all...

Mahiru wore a melancholic smile too, there was no doubt in Hiyoko’s mind that she’d royally fucked up. Before she could stumble through an apology though, Mahiru leaned forward in her seat, so that she knew Hiyoko could see her. See that striking look in her eyes... “Hiyoko... that cake you made for my birthday was really nice. Thank you.”

Where did that come from? And... hang on, how did Mahiru even know about that? Hadn’t Ibuki or Mikan taken it away, along with the gifts? Had they celebrated again without her? In a stunned silence, Hiyoko’s head rotated to face Mahiru with a mechanical stiffness. “Huh...? You- uh, I mean, I, uh- how do- or umm...”

Mahiru laughed at Hiyoko’s stammering, moving over to rest her shoulder against Hiyoko’s, which very nearly made the dancer explode. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know. Didn’t you wonder who wrapped you in that blanket, and gave you that pillow? If I’d been able to, I would’ve taken you back to your own room, but I just wasn’t feeling physically able enough to do it. That was real irresponsible you know, sleeping out in the hall-“

Cutting Mahiru short, Hiyoko wrapped her arms around her friends side, burying her face into Mahiru’s shoulder. “Shut up...”

Mahiru tenderly rubbed the top of Hiyoko’s head, after placing her lunch down on the bench. “I still haven’t opened those gifts either. I’d like for all four of us to get together to open them, since you were all kind enough to actually celebrate my birthday.”

“Of course we did, we weren’t going to forget about you...” Hiding ones face in a shoulder was very difficult, and so Hiyoko knew full well that she was doing an awful job of hiding her cherry-red cheeks. Stubbornly though, she pushed a little harder into Mahiru’s shoulder, as if she was intending to be swallowed into it somehow. “Stupid... I... we love you...”

“Aww... I love you too Hiyoko. And our other friends too.” Hiyoko heard the snapping of Mahiru’s camera, though the mortification of having her current face forever preserved for Mahiru to see would have to strike later. For now... Hiyoko wanted to watch Mahiru smiling. To watch that sweet... caring... beautiful smile... a smile that stung, that hurt Hiyoko’s heart. 

It was selfish, she was well aware of that, yet she still couldn’t help feeling that way. Every smile from Mahiru was bittersweet- she adored seeing her best friend happy; that mouth was certainly cruel though. Every ‘I love you’ that came from it... those hurt the most. Because Hiyoko knew, deep down, that Mahiru’s meant something drastically different than when she said it herself. 

Hiyoko was all too familiar with the sense of longing- though she never imagined it would worm its way into her romantic affections. Perhaps that belief had been foolish, naive of her, and yet she still never expected it. Back when they first met, Hiyoko would never have anticipated feeling this way about anyone, let alone her best friend. 

Without question, she had been right to assume that she’d regret that kiss she shared with Mahiru that one night... because now she desired even more. 

Every wave of Himiko’s wand had been perfectly precise, practised over and over to create the perfect routine... for pulling flowers out of her hat. 

Since Himiko had begun her magic training, she’d always been ridiculed for it. Her craft insulted for being fake, dumb, or a waste of time; just wearing her hat invited verbal abuse. Now though, she’d considered starting to wear it again. Around school anyway. Since coming to Hope’s Peak, Himiko’s self confidence had started to rise again. Certainly a part of that was because she’d found her ‘people’, so to speak, in the Supreme Overlord of Ice, and the Dark Princess... dare she even say she also owed some thanks to the Alpha and the Omega? Most of all though...

“Wow Himiko! That was amazing! Where did you pull those flowers from?” Tenko...

Himiko held no qualms in admitting that when she’d first met Tenko last year during their screening period for the academy, she’d found Tenko incessantly obnoxious. Always following her around, constantly pestering her for one reason or another... it was beyond grating. And yet, it was all that nagging that had given Himiko a feeling of relevancy, of belonging- someone cared about her, a lot, which was more than she could say for everyone else in her life, at the time anyway. It was only at the end of that trial period that she even learned why Tenko was so obsessed with her, and it turned out that it was because she was a big fan of performing arts, magic specifically. Perhaps it was that little bit of knowledge about Tenko that kickstarted Himiko’s change of attitude towards her now close friend, or maybe it wasn’t until even more recently... over those few days when Tenko ‘disappeared’... Regardless of when it started, Himiko was well aware that something had changed- there was no way she would have felt so strongly about the situation between Tenko and Angie if she was still the same as last year. 

Still... Himiko undeniably felt a degree of guilt in taking so much joy from Tenko’s adoration of her; Himiko couldn’t offer Tenko anything remotely similar to what she could for Himiko. In the end, Himiko believed that was one of many fundamental differences between herself and Tenko- for all her immaturities, Tenko was a very grounded and understanding person most of the time, whereas Himiko was, well... still very much immature. A... child...

Even her attempts to do things for Tenko had been childish. Whenever Himiko thought about that drawing she’d made of Tenko and Hajime... her entire essence cringed. Only a child would ever give anyone something as lame as that... but it wasn’t like Himiko had much experience with how to handle friends beyond her infant years. And now she had two pretty close friends- two was a huge jump for her, so it should be normal to meet some road bumps in how to manage those relationships, right?

Recently, she’d started taking measures on flattening out those road bumps, and thankfully, with Angie locking herself away, Himiko could spend a lot more time with Tenko without feeling guilty about neglecting Angie. Wow... handling friendships were much harder than Himiko would have thought... but wasn’t that why she was putting on a small show for Tenko anyway? To really build their bond. 

“Nyeh... and for my next spell, I’ll... tell you what card you’re about to hold...!” Even the simplest of tricks seemed to overwhelm Tenko with intense excitement. She looked quite like a child herself, with that starry eyed look of giddy joy she always wore when beholding Himiko’s magic. Who could blame her though, Himiko’s magic was the real deal after all, and very few were lucky enough to behold the majesty of a real spell. 

Small, personal performances were the ones Himiko enjoyed the most- largely because they were the only type she could enjoy from start to finish. If there was anything that Himiko desperately wanted to learn from Tenko, it was her overflowing confidence. Stage fright had always been something Himiko grappled with when performing for large crowds; it served as her greatest downfall as a performer. She had to wonder if Tenko would still be so enamoured with her craft if she saw Himiko bumbling around under those circumstances...

As soon as Himiko had performed her last magical act, she took a bow, swishing her cape when she rose. The raucous applause and cheering from Tenko caused an embarrassed smile to creep onto Himiko’s face. “Th-thank you, thank you... Nyeh... did you enjoy that Tenko?”

Of course, Himiko already knew the answer to that, and the squee that rose from Tenko’s throat essentially spoke for her anyway. What Himiko hadn’t quite anticipated was for Tenko to dart forward, wrapping Himiko up in a playfully tight embrace. “Oh, Himiko, that was perfect! You were so cool! No matter how often I see your magic, I’m always impressed. It gets better every time!”

“... good...” It was hard to tell whenever Himiko actually got any closer to Tenko- her personality just made it really difficult to tell, since she always acted the same way around Himiko. In Himiko’s mind at least, this was a good step forward, this was the first time she’d ever performed just for Tenko, and she was sure that she’d appreciate that fact. 

At any other time, Himiko probably would have tried to push Tenko away by now, and called her affection ‘a pain’ or something of the like; instead, Himiko allowed herself to take a little bit of pride in it, letting her head rest against Tenko’s chest. She’d earned this affection, this validation. Though... she didn’t find herself trying to hug Tenko back.

It’d probably been a little too long since Shuichi had simply sat down to review any evidence for the case... and he had a feeling very little work was going to get done with Kaito around. Even when he wasn’t talking, Kaito managed to make some sort of noise... Shuichi wasn’t so sure what he was drinking, but he sure was slurping it very loudly...

Sitting around Hope’s Peak to look over this case had really become a regular part of his life now... which was highly concerning. For this to become even somewhat regular meant that he and Kyoko were taking too long, lives were in danger and they hadn’t progressed anywhere... no one had died recently, but that didn’t mean that no one would die in the future. Maybe the killer was trying to play the long game, and they were going to strike next when their guards where down... or maybe there were already more murders that they just didn’t know about yet...

A hearty burp signalled the fact that Kaito had finished with whatever he was drinking, and he lobbed the empty bottle at a bin. He missed. Grunting, he stood up, collected the bottle, and tried again from where it had rolled to; obviously he nailed it that time- it would’ve been embarrassing to miss something that close. 

And this was why Shuichi would never get any work done with Kaito around- he possessed some sort of aura that attracted attention to him at all times. When he sat back down, he continued with his unintentional distractions in a more direct way. “Hey bro, you made any progress with that case yet? You’ve been working on it for a while now, ain’t ‘cha? Must be pretty difficult if two Ultimate Detectives can’t even crack it. Maybe I could lend a hand!”

“N-no Kaito...” Shuichi sighed. “As much as I’d appreciate the help, this is very confidential stuff. To be honest, I’m pushing it by even letting you know that I’m investigating anything at school...”

Oddly enough, Kaito’s grin seemed almost empowered after Shuichi said that. “Huh, really? You seem pretty eager to share this stuff with Maki Roll. I guess it must be because you guys are so close, you must really trust her.”

It sounded as if Kaito had made his mind up about something, though Shuichi had no idea what... it seemed unlikely, but he wasn’t jealous of Shuichi’s friendship with Maki, was he? Kaito never struck Shuichi as the jealous type though, so probably not... “Uh, really? Because I haven’t told Maki anything I haven’t told you. Or Kaede, for that matter. Hmm... there was also that one time with Himiko... but I didn’t explicitly tell her anything...”

For whatever reason, THAT seemingly threw Kaito off, his mouth hanging open in... shock? “Uhhh... uh-oh...”

“Huh? Is... is there a problem Kaito?”

Kaito quickly dismissed Shuichi’s question, brushing it off with a wave of his hand. “Uh, nah, n-nothin’...”

“...”

“...”

There was definitely something going on. Shuichi could feel it in the atmosphere around them. It also didn’t help that he could see Kaito mumbling under his breath. “Are you sure? Because it seems like-“

“I told ya, it’s all good bro! I’m just a little worried is all...” Kaito rubbed the back of his head, and before Shuichi could ask what he meant, Kaito carried on. “With so many people who know... and so little progress... well, you know...”

Taken aback by Kaito’s uncharacteristically defeatist attitude, Shuichi looked up from his papers. “Kaito? A-are you trying to say that... it’s an impossible case?”

Kaito shrugged, rubbing the side of his head with his palm. “Nah, nothin’ as drastic as that. Just that maybe you’re missing something, something big that’ll tie everything together, and you just haven’t found it yet. Besides,” Kaito’s familiar grin quickly returned as he stuck his thumb into the air. “You know what I think about the impossible.”

“... the impossible is possible, all you’ve got to do is make it so, right?” A small smile tugged at the corner of Shuichi’s mouth from Kaito’s return to form. It was oddly uplifting to see that self assuredness back. 

“Hey, it’s ‘all you gotta do’ Shuichi, no need to make it all proper sounding!” Playfully, Kaito laughed, slinging one arm over the back of the bench he and Shuichi were sitting on. “What I really want to say is, maybe you should take a break for a bit. Clear your mind of all this murder stuff, and focus on something else. Then, when you come back, you can look at everything with a new perspective. Get where I’m coming from?”

Shuichi nodded slowly. “Kind of... did you have something in mind?” Especially now, Shuichi shouldn’t have been letting himself get distracted by a break... but he certainly saw value in what Kaito was suggesting...

He could tell Kaito was about to drop something big in his lap by the pause Kaito took, the way he rolled his head ever so slightly to the side. “Well... I was thinking... this Sunday, Maki Roll has that thing with those kids for that job offer thingy she got, and I thought that maybe you could be there to support her. We both know that she’s a bit nervous about it, so I think you being there will really help her out. Hey, maybe you’ll even be asked to help out, you know how standoffish Maki can be. It’ll be a great experience for the both of you!”

Something... wasn’t right. Kaito should know just as well as anyone else that Shuichi would be awful for something like that, kids they may be, but they were still absolute strangers to him... and he had severe issues with interacting with strangers. “... Kaito... why don’t you go with her?”

“Huh?”

“Look, recently, I’ve been spending a lot of time with Maki, it’s true. I mean, I still get at least one call from her everyday. And yeah, I do think that it’s great that she can bond with someone, even me... but wouldn’t she be happier if she could share the same bond she has with me with other people. I think she’d like to have that sort of connection with you too, you know...”

Kaito clearly wasn’t ready for that. He frantically looked away from Shuichi, muttering something to himself that Shuichi couldn’t really hear. “Gah... Umm... No, you’re right Shuichi, I’m sorry. I should be letting other people spend time with her, it’s for the best...”

There was... something else that was wrong. Something far more drastic than their hypothetical scenario- Shuichi could see Kaito’s clenched teeth... the hand grasping at his chest... A rough, chesty cough erupted from Kaito’s throat, the sort that you have at the height of an illness... no, it was much worse than that. “K-Kaito! What-!” Shuichi practically threw his papers to the floor as he stood up, rushing to lean over Kaito. But Kaito lightly pushed him away, his chest still heaving up and down. 

“I-it... it’s fine Shuichi... I’m fine... I promise...”

“Kaito... please don’t lie to me... here,” Shuichi offered his arm out for Kaito to hold. “I’ll take you to the nurses office. Better to be safe than sorry.”

“... jeez, I can’t believe how much of a burden I’m being to one of my sidekicks...” Reluctantly, Kaito took a shaky hold on Shuichi’s arm, lifting himself up from the bench. 

Perhaps today’s distraction hadn’t been bad at all. Because if Shuichi hadn’t been there to witness Kaito’s bout of violent coughing, he had no doubt that Kaito would have hidden it from everyone. 

Was it wrong that Shuichi was more concerned with Kaito’s health than the case?


	46. Chapter 44

Friday, May 24th

Standing in Hope’s Peak’s courtyard, staring down Fuyuhiko... it was an oddly familiar situation that Hiyoko found herself in. However, this time, he’d been the one to make the approach. Why’d he even bother though? She was just minding her own business...

“So... I see Mahiru’s back.” Why did he care? The easy answer was obviously that he didn’t, but... he wouldn’t go out of his way to make small talk, certainly not with Hiyoko, and definitely not about Mahiru. 

“Oh, so your eyes do work then? Good job, dumbass, I don’t think a single other person noticed. Hmm... oh wait...” Hiyoko tapped her bottom lip with a finger, acting condescendingly innocent. “Oh that’s right, they did. Most of our class did. What, are you jealous that no one pays that much attention to your angsty little self?” Hiyoko mockingly jeered at Fuyuhiko, goading a reaction from him. She knew full well that he’d take the bait this time. 

And he most certainly did, his face twisting in fury. “Fuck off, you worthless little bitch! I ain’t jealous of anyone!” Perfect. Based on his outburst, Hiyoko could surmise that he didn’t come to her to play nice. “You know, I’m real surprised, I can’t believe anyone missed that pompous, bossy bitch!”

In spite of her own, new found intentions with this conversation, it was hard to not get mad at him. Any slights against Mahiru felt like personal attacks on Hiyoko as well- or at the very least she felt compelled to defend Mahiru’s name. “Of course people missed her, unlike you, she’s a respectable person.”

“Respectable, huh? I know what she did.” Fuyuhiko proceeded to spit, venom coating every syllable. “Don’t let the fact that you wanna fuck her blind you, she’s a conniving bitch. But hey, you should already know about that. I know you were in on it too.”

“What... are you talking about?” Of course Hiyoko already knew what he was referring too. But she knew just as well that what he was implying was wrong. He was trying to suggest that they were responsible for... no, no they’d found the body, but they weren’t responsible in any way...

“You know what I mean. I know you killed my sister.” Despite whispering the accusation, and the fact that Hiyoko knew that it was false, the hair on the back of her neck still stood on end, a chill rushing down her spine. When she didn’t initially respond, Fuyuhiko stepped forward... and took another step forward... and another... Hiyoko hadn’t managed to fully process what was happening until she felt his hands grasp her kimono. “... I’ll fuckin’ kill you for what you did... all of you...”

Fear suddenly kicked in for Hiyoko, and her survival instincts abruptly took over. One of her fists flew into Fuyuhiko’s cheek, knocking him off balance- he clearly wasn’t expecting her to retaliate at all. Expectedly, this simply added fuel to his fire, so although Hiyoko had broken free of his hold, that just meant that he had arms to swing. 

Hiyoko knew full well that she couldn’t outrun him- even without her kimono restricting the rapid leg movements she’d need to run that fast, he was obviously swifter than she was. Which meant that she’d need to either knock him out, or force him to give up. However, as soon as he lunged at her, any escape plans left her mind, along with the breath in her lungs as her back hit one of the many flower beds in the courtyard. 

Fuyuhiko had tackled her to the floor, his knees digging into the soil by her arms. His positioning, fortunately, made it easy for Hiyoko to pull her legs back, and drive them into his gut before he could land another blow though. 

She should have been more focused on what to do next, but the feeling of grainy soil in her hair was far too distracting. And gross. 

“You little-!” Fuyuhiko dove at her again, punching her square in the chest, forcing her to the ground again. A dull throbbing radiated over her entire body after that; despite the pain, her hands reached up and clasped around his neck. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Fuyuhiko winding his arm back to deliver another punch, when-

“What do you two think you’re doing?!” The authoritative shout of their teacher promptly brought their spat to an end; Hiyoko’s hands instantly fell from his neck to her face, as she forced out a choked sob. Her fake tears attracted a glare from Fuyuhiko, but they both knew he couldn’t really do anything about it, which forced him to simply resign from his assault, and stand up from the dirt that they’d been rolling in. 

“WAAAAAHHHHHH! H-he... he attacked me! He-he was trying to kill meeeeeeee!” As Hiyoko weeped, she heard Fuyuhiko scoff, but he didn’t rebuke her. Probably because she wasn’t entirely lying. However, Chisa...

“Nice try Hiyoko, but I know you aren’t completely innocent. I saw where your hands were. Still, it does look to me like you didn’t initiate.” Hands on her hips, Chisa flared at Fuyuhiko, who just looked away from the two of them. “Fuyuhiko...”

“I don’t give a shit about what you think, teach... I don’t regret what I did...” Without another word, Fuyuhiko sauntered away, hands in his pockets, and shoulders hunched.

“Young man, don’t you-!” Despite Chisa’s calling, she didn’t pursue him, instead she offered a hand out to Hiyoko, to pull her up from the flowerbed. “You didn’t provoke him, did you? You should know as well as I do that he’s been very on edge recently, after what happened to his sister.”

“Nuh-uh... I-I didn’t say anything to him...” Wiping the crocodile tears from her eyes, she could tell Chisa was sceptical- she couldn’t prove anything though, and Fuyuhiko didn’t make a good case for himself anyway. 

Chisa sighed, lightly brushing the dirt from Hiyoko’s back. “Alright then... come on, let’s go to the nurses office. Mikan can do a quick once over of you, to make sure you’re all okay. I have a feeling you’d just tell me that you’re alright if I didn’t, am I right?” The knowing grin Chisa bore was unendingly frustrating, only worsened by the fact that Hiyoko knew that she was, in fact, correct.

“Mhmm... okay Ms. Yukizome...” 

Laughing once, Chisa gently patted Hiyoko’s head. “Getting formal? Now I know you’re up to something.” She looked off in the direction Fuyuhiko had walked, but he was already gone from their sight. “Poor boy... if only he’d be a little more open... maybe then he wouldn’t lash out. I’ll get him down to the nurses office later as well...”

Listening to Chisa, Hiyoko almost began to feel bad for Fuyuhiko. Almost. After all, she could have very easily reacted to everything that had happened just like he was, and a few years ago she definitely would have. If Mahiru hadn’t come out the other side of this okay... what would she have done? Or maybe it was more apt to ask who she would have become?

Despite their positions at the table, it felt to Shuichi as if he and Kyoko were being interrogated this time- this guy emanated an oppressive aura of complete control. Actually... it wasn’t too different to the sort Kyoko possessed, though this one... Shuichi couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something was different about it...

Calm as ever, Kyoko spoke in her usual soft, yet commanding, tone. “So Nagito, what was so important that you had to tell us in a completely private spot?”

The dim lighting of their ‘interrogation room’ only heightened the disturbed atmosphere for Shuichi, ominous shadows danced across Nagito’s face thanks to his long and wavy hair. Resting folded arms on the table, he leaned forward, which almost made Shuichi scoot backwards... “Before we get into that, there’s something I’d like to ask the two of you.” Kyoko’s silent raising of an eyebrow was the only response Nagito seemed to need before he continued. “I’d like to join your investigative efforts.”

The way he said it... he made it sound like that request meant nothing, held no real weight. Normally, Shuichi didn’t doubt that Kyoko would’ve instantly shut him down; they were so desperate for clues right now though that, well, could they afford to turn him down?

As expected, that did seem to be the dilemma Kyoko was internally undertaking as well. The single sideways glance she sent to Shuichi all but confirmed it. Nagito clearly recognised their apprehension, and attempted to sweeten the deal even further. “Wouldn’t it be beneficial to have someone stationed in every class in the Main Course? That way, not only are a majority of the students monitored, so are the staff.”

Silence lingered in the room a few minutes longer. Shuichi hadn’t really made any hard decision on how to handle this, so he’d decided to just let Kyoko decide. And her final decision actually surprised him. “... okay. I’ll allow you to cooperate with us. Unofficially, of course, since this is a matter that should be kept as private as possible. As such, we cannot tell you details that aren’t released to the public.”

At that, Nagito shallowly laughed, and Shuichi had a feeling he knew exactly why... “Oh? So really, I’m not allowed to know anything more than I do already. How tight lipped... exactly what I’d expect from Ultimate Detectives!” Pulling his arms from the table, Nagito briefly fished around in his vest, soon bringing out a small plastic bottle, and placing it down on the table. Despite their arrangement not benefitting him in any way, he didn’t seem to mind. At all... 

Picking up the bottle, Kyoko turned it over in her gloved hands. “Sleeping pills?”

Nagito nodded his head. “After the last bottle I showed you, I began to encourage our nurse to take daily notes on all of the medical supplies in the nurses office. And can you imagine her surprise when a couple of sleeping pills mysteriously vanished over night?”

“O-over night? Do you... mean that literally?” Shuichi made his first enquiry, to the apparent surprise of Nagito. 

“Hmm? Yes, I do mean that literally. So if you ask me, I think that should cast some suspicion on those who have free reign over the school after dark.” Kyoko nodded at his deduction, though also waved it off soon after. 

“Thank you Nagito. Now, I recommend that you return to your classes. There’s something I’d like to discuss with Shuichi.”

“Aww, I’m not going to be included?” Playfully chuckling in that raspy voice of his, Nagito stood from his chair, and headed for the door. Before he left though, he peered back over his shoulder. “I look forward to working with you two in the future.” Those were Nagito’s final words to the detective duo before he left. He’d had so much control over that entire situation... they really were desperate, weren’t they?

“So what do you think Kyoko? Th-think he was on to something?” 

Kyoko solemnly shook her head. “Unfortunately no. The security footage doesn’t back up his theories. And even then, the only two people officially on school grounds after dark couldn’t have killed Ms. Kuzuryu.”

“They... couldn’t have?”

A small smirk rested behind the hand Kyoko rose to her face. “As far as evidence can prove, no, they couldn’t have. Hajime Hinata started his work shift after the murder, and the patrol that Juzo Sakakura walks wasn’t implemented until after the murder either, before he simply watched the entrance, and the security cameras dealt with everything else before that.”

“That seems... quite lax for such a prestigious school...” Although Shuichi did agree with what Kyoko was suggesting, there was a rather large detail she was clearly omitting. “Say, Kyoko? Maybe I’m looking into something that doesn’t mean anything, but why are you only talking about Ms. Kuzuryu? What about the other two victims?”

Though Kyoko’s hand fell, her smirk remained. “As far as Nagito is concerned, the death of Ms. Gekkogahara never happened. Since her death still hasn’t been publicised, the only ones who should know about it are us, a few members of the school board, and Hajime Hinata. Well, and Mr. Kisakura, who was the one to find Hajime Hinata passed out in the morning. As for Ms. Sato... well, we already have her killer.”

“H-huh?! We do?!” That was news to Shuichi... had Kyoko already made an arrest? “Who is it?”

“... that hardly matters. Getting them involved would be much more trouble than leaving them be.” What sense did that make? Was Kyoko suggesting that they just let this killer get away with their crime? That was ridiculous, right? But... if Kyoko was saying it... she must’ve had a good reason...

“Oh... so... we aren’t any closer to finding our mystery killer then, are we?”

“No, however,” Kyoko turned her head towards Shuichi, the grin she wore previously replaced by a very serious scowl. “We need to start monitoring the nurses office. Closely. I don’t think this is the last time that that place will be relevant...”

Eavesdropping wasn’t Hajime’s intention, but the conversation happening inside 3-B didn’t seem like one he should have actively walked in on. He could recognise both voices too- Mahiru’s and Hiyoko’s- though it didn’t sound like Chisa was in there...

“Hiyoko, come on, stop being so stubborn.”

“It’s fine Mahiru... I’m fine. It’s not a big deal.”

“That’s not what Mikan told me! Hiyoko, this is your health we’re talking about, are you feeling okay?”

That last question from Mahiru kickstarted Hajime’s own fear and concern for Hiyoko. With the type of person Hiyoko was, he wasn’t surprised that she wouldn’t care to show signs of weakness to anyone, but... there was always a chance that she’d want to hide an injury that might’ve been a result her being attacked again... for the sake of disassociating herself from it. 

In an attempt to appear somewhat nonchalant about his arrival, Hajime opened the door fairly slowly; as soon as he did, a shrill cry greeted him, and Hiyoko charged right past him, her face a hot red, and her trembling hands holding her kimono together at her chest. At first, Hajime assumed that she must’ve been embarrassed about something, but the vicious glare she gave him just before she pushed past him seemed to indicate more so that she was... angry?

“Hiyoko...!” Mahiru reached out for Hiyoko, but she was of course far gone by that point. “... hello Hajime.” There was something in her tone that made her sound rather defeated. Maybe he shouldn’t have entered after all. 

They both took their seats, waiting for Chisa to arrive, and an uncomfortable silence fell over them. At least, Hajime found it uncomfortable. The atmosphere was undeniably tense... Hajime wasn’t certain whether it was a good thing or not that he didn’t have a solid idea as to why. Mahiru’s talk with Hiyoko hadn’t sounded quite that serious...

Surprisingly, Mahiru broke the silence by asking him an unexpected question. “Hajime, you’re friends with Hiyoko, aren’t you?”

“Hmm? Well... I’m not sure that’s what she’d call us, but yeah, I guess we are. Why?”

Mahiru dryly laughed once at his comment, before she threw another, much harder, question at him. “What’s she like? When you’re with her, I mean.”

What exactly was the point of this? Shouldn’t Mahiru know exactly how Hiyoko behaves? As he recalled, Hiyoko’s Shadow actually mentioned Mahiru, so they must be close. At least, in Hiyoko’s eyes. “What she’s like... it’s kinda hard to put it into words... most of the time she’s pretty standoffish, and rude too. Sometimes though, she shows a little bit of kindness to the people around her. But she usually goes back to being rude again soon after.” Without a doubt, Hajime could have, and probably should have, been far more harsh in his word choice there, though he wasn’t sure if Mahiru would take kindly to that...

“Oh...” For whatever reason, that answer apparently didn’t sit right with Mahiru. 

“Wh-what’s wrong? Did I say something weird?”

Mahiru shook her head. “No... no, you didn’t. And that’s part of the problem.”

“What do you mean?”

Clearly something was bugging Mahiru, and Hajime hoped he could possibly get her to talk about it. It would be better than keeping it bottled up at least. “Recently... I feel as if Hiyoko’s behaviour has changed. Around me, anyway. Even before all this crazy stuff started happening in school, she’s been different. Only with me though. The Hiyoko I used to know acted pretty much exactly as you described Hajime, she’s childishly cruel, but hiding a softer side. Now though she’s always trying to act tough and put on a brave face around me. For a lack of a better word, it seems like she’s trying to be more mature around me, but I don’t know why... why only with me? Hiyoko doesn’t even let me worry about her anymore...”

So that was the problem, Hiyoko was putting on an act around Mahiru. Although... “Is that necessarily a bad thing? The Hiyoko that you described sounds much more pleasant than the one I did.”

In the few seconds when Mahiru didn’t offer a response, Hajime was forced to wonder if that was yet again the wrong thing to say. “... maybe you’re right. In the few years I’ve known her, we’ve already made strides towards making her more mature, so maybe this is just the next step in that.”

Both of them could tell that Mahiru didn’t fully believe that. However, neither one had anything else to say on the matter. This wasn’t an issue Hajime could really understand, not fully, at any rate. He couldn’t understand why Mahiru held any issue with Hiyoko trying to act more maturely, even if it was only around her. Really, that seemed like the best way for Hiyoko to make strides in becoming a better person. The only thing Hajime could think of as being a negative part of that was what he listened in on earlier- about Hiyoko hiding something presumably because she didn’t want to look weak, or incapable, or something like that. 

Hajime wanted to ask Mahiru exactly what it was about Hiyoko’s behaviour she wasn’t a fan of; before her could, Chisa burst through the door, a wide grin plastered over her face. Someone clearly didn’t care that they were late to their own lesson... that did mean, however, that Hajime wouldn’t get the chance to ask Mahiru anything else about the Hiyoko situation... not today. 

That didn’t stop the matter from playing through his mind during his entire catch-up session. Still, Hajime didn’t entirely understand what the problem was. As far as he was aware, hiding weaknesses and your own problems was a sign of maturity- at least, the stereotypically portrayal of adults in media usually showed them to be very private and secretive about what troubles them. So... perhaps the issue didn’t sit with Hiyoko... and it was instead Mahiru who had the real issue. Maybe she couldn’t accept the fact that Hiyoko was ‘growing up’ without her... maybe. It’s not as if he knew Mahiru all that well. 

Perhaps that was something he needed to change, if he wanted to understand this whole situation better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who ended up rewriting that chapter I said I was happy with? Sorry this took so long, well over a week, but I’ve decided to just stop working on that later chapter altogether until it comes time to post it, so now I can say a little more confidently that updates will happen a little faster.


	47. Chapter 45

Saturday, May 25th

Although Hajime had intended to spend his lunch break in the tech lab, he couldn’t even leave the Reserve building before he was stopped. And by someone fairly unexpected. 

“Chiaki? What are you doing here? Did you get lost or something?” Despite how seemingly well put together Chiaki appeared, she did also strike him as the type to absentmindedly wander.

However, Chiaki simply smiled at him, tilting her head slightly to the side. “I’m here to get you, Hajime,” and in a swift change in demeanour, Chiaki leant forward, her balled fists eagerly bouncing up and down in front of her chest. “All of JET are meeting up to have lunch together today. It was Tenko’s idea.”

“JET...? Oh, right, yeah, that...” As much as Hajime hadn’t cared for their previous team name, this one honestly wasn’t fantastic either. In his opinion at least. Did they even need a name anyway? What was the point in having one... just calling themselves ‘the team’ would serve the same purpose in the end...

“Huh? Are you not interested?” Hajime instantly snapped out of his negative thoughts upon hearing Chiaki’s wounded tone. 

“Oh, no, I’ll come, don’t worry. It was nothing, really. But why are we all getting together today?”

Chiaki lightly shrugged, and grabbed Hajime’s wrist before she turned around. “I’m not sure... Tenko said she wanted to announce something... I think.”

With that non answer in mind, Hajime internally groaned. Sounded to him like Tenko just wanted them to all hang out. Not that there was a problem with that, of course; he would’ve just preferred for Tenko to be fully transparent with them. 

For some reason, it took him a moment to realise that they weren’t actually moving. Despite holding his wrist, Chiaki was just standing in the corridor, glancing over her shoulder to look back at him. He’d been dragged around so much recently that he hadn’t expected someone would actually wait for him to start walking by himself... Even when he did, Chiaki still kept ahead, obviously since she knew where they were going to meet the other three, but she never let go of his wrist. 

Walking down the Reserve Course corridors like that invited copious whispers though. Gossipy whispers, the sort Hajime had never heard directed towards him before... Chiaki seemed entirely unaffected by them, which only worsened the sheepish red hue that overran Hajime’s cheeks...

Even having barely entered the Main Course dining hall, Tenko seemingly tracked Chiaki and himself instantly, as they were greeted with the girl energetically waving them down as soon as they arrived. As eager as she was, however, when the two arrived at the table the rest of their team were sat at, Hajime’s attention was actually brought elsewhere. 

“Oh, Makoto, you’re out of your sling.”

Makoto beamed at Hajime, waving the arm now adorned in only a cast. “Yeah! Apparently my shoulder is all healed up now, and Mikan told me I’ll be able to get the cast off soon too, around the first week of June. I still won’t be super useful in a fight, but-“ Makoto’s excited ramblings were cut short by Hiyoko flicking him in the side of the head, earning her a soft “Ouch...” from him. 

“Shut up, moron! Don’t say stuff like that out loud!” Despite saying it a whisper, Hiyoko’s harsh tone clearly got the message across to him. Oddly, Tenko seemed to find that interaction funny, since she laughed right after...

Before long, however, Tenko started her own speech, declaring the purpose of this meeting. “Okay team, tomorrow is going to be a big day! Not only are we going to hang out as a group again, I’ve decided that tomorrow will be the day we get Chiaki her own Persona.”

Chiaki gasped with just about the most energy someone like her was capable of, but Makoto nervously interjected. “Umm... sorry Tenko, I was actually going to see my sister tomorrow, uh, since I haven’t for a little while... sorry...” He was a brave man for trying to defy Tenko like that...

Although, Tenko didn’t have quite the reaction to that that Hajime had expected. Her face certainly twisted, but it wasn’t in anger, more like surprise... yeah... surprise. Hajime had seen Tenko making some very odd faces before... but this one had to be the strangest. If her bulging eyes weren’t enough... he’d never seen anyone show off that many teeth in one facial expression before. “W-w-wait... you can’t? But... my plans...” Huh... that wasn’t the response Hajime expected either... he fully anticipated Tenko telling him to cancel because they were more important than his sister. “It’ll be totally weird if Hajime is the only guy there though!”

And that was the sort of comment he was waiting for. Even then though, it was pretty tame by Tenko’s standards. “Why don’t I tag along with Makoto then? You three can have a girls day out, or something like that, and I’ll go with him to the arcade. Uh, if you’re okay with that Makoto.”

Makoto happily nodded his head, but before he could give any verbal consent, Chiaki came out with one of her excited, breathy, gasps. “Arcade? That’s where you two are going?! Can... can I come too?!”

“Yeah, of course. I don’t mind.” As expected, Makoto was more than happy for anyone and everyone to come along. Tenko though...

“B-b-b... but my plans... how are we gonna grow as a team if it’s just me and Hiyoko...”

“As if I’d hang out with you anyway...” Hiyoko grunted, flicking some sort of gummy candy at the side of Tenko’s head, the little bear harmlessly bouncing onto the floor, though clearly dealing the final blow to Tenko’s pep. Hajime almost felt bad for her, until she spun in her chair, and her hands flew to Hiyoko’s shoulders. 

“PLEASE HANG OUT WITH ME TOMORROW HIYOKO, I CAN’T GO WITH THEM, I SUCK AT VIDEO GAMES!” Hiyoko flinched back in her seat, recoiling from having that blasted into her face. While it was pretty silly, Hajime could at least see where Tenko was coming from, he could vaguely remember that one time she’d visited the arcade with Makoto and himself once before, and she didn’t really try anything out... 

Shuddering, Hiyoko roughly pushed Tenko away, her palm pressed into Tenko’s cheek. “Ugh, fine, fine, whatever. I’ll hang out with you, but only if I can bring a friend.”

“Why not, the more the merrier. I’ll bring one of my friends as well, I’m sure we’ll all get along!” On the verge of squeeing, Tenko, apparently not having learnt her lesson, grabbed Hiyoko in what looked to be a bone crushingly tight hug, which Hiyoko responded to by slapping Tenko’s head with the bag of sweets she’d been eating out of. Repeatedly. 

Hajime sighed at the sight. It was... difficult to believe that they were all friends sometimes. Uh... most of the time. Whilst Tenko and Hiyoko were having their little interaction, however, Chiaki leaned over to Hajime and Makoto. “So we’re going to hang out together then, right? I can’t wait.” Somehow, Hajime had a feeling Chiaki was actually more excited about the games than the hanging out part... but Makoto evidently didn’t share the same cynical view he did. 

“Yeah, me either. I haven’t spent time with you guys properly in a little while, and the three of us haven’t ever hung out. Oh, uh... and my sister will be there, so I guess it isn’t just us, but still.” It seemed that the two of them really were excited about it; Hajime just couldn’t bring himself to have quite that emotional of a reaction. After all, they were just hanging out, that was all... they’d done this before, it wasn’t anything special. 

Maybe he was just jealous that no one got this excited about the day out that he’d planned...

“You’ll still be available tomorrow night though, won’t you? We need you to complete our team!” Unbeknownst to everyone else, Hiyoko had apparently managed to pry Tenko off of her, which had forced her focus back onto the group as a whole, her question aimed at Makoto. 

“Oh yeah, totally. As I said, I won’t be too helpful in combat, but I can provide support for you all, no problem.” Makoto reassured them all that he’d be there... but was that really for the best? Should he really risk hurting himself again when he was so close to healing?

This brief discussion raised an issue that Hajime had thought of though. “Hey... are all of you going to be okay with sneaking in? There’s four of you now, so... are you sure you guys aren’t going to get caught?”

“That’s a good point...” Chiaki was quick to respond, one finger contemplatively tapping her chin. “You’ve all been alright so far, and I didn’t have a problem sneaking in last time, so as long as we don’t march in as one big group, I think we’ll be okay. Is there any other way to get in though?”

That was a good question, and one that only Hajime could really feasibly answer... was there any other way into the tech lab? As far as he was aware, there wasn’t. “... alright. Just... be cautious guys. And don’t get caught.”

“Let’s hope someone doesn’t have an unlucky streak then,” Hiyoko snidely commented under her breath. 

“Hey, it’ll be alright, I haven’t messed up my entry yet-“ For some reason, Makoto was going to raise his injured hand while he was speaking, but he unfortunately smacked it into the edge of the table as he raised it, a pained yelp rising from his throat as he did. 

“Wow, way to go, dumbass.” Hajime sighed again as Hiyoko laughed at her own jibe. Luck... for crying out loud, of all things, they better not get found out based on sheer luck...

Two presumed victims... one potential suspect... and the boy Kyoko had trusted with some of the information on the case... for them all to be friends... that couldn’t be a coincidence, could it? Or, no, maybe it was, that connection to the case didn’t account for the other girl with them- as far as Shuichi was aware, there was no record of anyone else being completely absent from school since Hiyoko’s incident... but then on the other hand, it seemed near impossible that Tenko would tolerate having any male friends, or for the notoriously antisocial Hiyoko Saionji to have suddenly reached out to people outside of her inner circle. And... they’d all become friends with a Reserve Course student... how had that come about? Perhaps he was just being overly paranoid. That... seemed possible, but they couldn’t afford to overlook something like this. That group was important, four people connected in some way to the case were friends- maybe the killer of Ms. Sato was amongst them as well? Maybe-

“Sh-Shuichi, are you alright? You look pale... and uh, really sweaty.”

Kaede’s concerned voice snapped Shuichi out of his questioning mentality, and his focus returned to her. “Oh, s-sorry... I’m fine, just thinking.”

“About those cases again?” Despite her concerned tone, it must’ve been something about Kaede’s pout that told Shuichi she didn’t care that much about them... not that she should’ve, he just didn’t know why she would sound concerned when talking about them at all. Maybe she was just scared... there were, likely, at least two killers amongst the people at their school after all. 

“... yeah. Sorry.”

It was rare for Shuichi and Kaede to be by themselves at lunch, if Kaito and Maki weren’t with them, Kaede was usually with some of her other friends. Today though... she’d actually chosen to come and sit with him. Just them. And here he was not paying her any attention whatsoever- they might as well have been sitting in opposite corners of the dinning hall. 

Yet another consequence of this case taking far too long to be solved. He just didn’t have the time for the people he cared about. 

“Hmmmm...” A frustrated sigh slipped from between Kaede’s lips as she shot a pouty frown at Shuichi. Had he made her mad? She had a right to be... “Shuichi... are you feeling alright?”

“Huh? Uh, y-yeah, I’m alright...” There was no doubt in his mind that that had been a rhetorical question. Kaede knew full well how much stress this case had put him under. And when Kaede was sure of something, it was nigh impossible to convince her otherwise. 

“Shuichi...” After a moments hesitation, Kaede rose from her seat. “Shuichi, come with me.”

“Wh-what? Where are-“

“To the music hall. I want to play something for you. To, you know, ease you up a little. I want you to relax for once, okay? And do that this weekend too, alright? No crime solving stuff, tomorrow should just be some time for you to spend by yourself. Got that?” Of course Shuichi wasn’t about to tell her no, but he didn’t even get the opportunity to promise that he would- Kaede pulled him up too, and began to drag him by the hand. 

He was glad then that she was taking the lead. Shuichi would have preferred for her to not see the scarlet flush on his cheeks, or the slight smile tugging at the corner of his lips. 

Before they left the dinning hall though, Shuichi cast a final glance back at that group of friends... was there anything suspicious about them? Maybe... maybe not... he couldn’t really judge them from a distance, after all, his own friend group was rather... ragtag, wasn’t it?

Hmm... in that case... perhaps he could try a different approach...

A sudden knocking on the door of the tech lab jarred Hajime awake from his light nap. It hadn’t actually been that long since he’d arrived... so who was it? The security chief maybe? God forbid Tenko or Chiaki got a little over eager and showed up tonight instead...

A wash of fear then shrouded his mind. What if... when he opened the door... no, no no, what was he thinking, nothing like that could happen. Even so...

Hajime’s hand hesitated over the door handle. Stupid, unfounded paranoia is all it was, just because this was unexpected... it would be fine. And as soon as he opened the door-

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, kiddo.” Hajime instinctively stumbled back, his hand on his chest. His guest hasn’t missed a beat, speaking the very moment the door opened. 

“Mr. Kizakura...” Did he really have to do that? And why had he arrived now? Usually, whenever he wanted to talk, he’d show up before Hajime’s shift had started, not about an hour in. 

Kizakura chuckled to himself, inviting himself into the lab. Clearly, he was satisfied with his entrance, and saw no concern with the time he’d arrived, once again casually slumping into Chihiro’s chair. “I noticed you didn’t even ask who was at the door Hajime. Come on, you’re effectively a security guard, you’ve gotta be more careful than that. Did you get too comfortable in assuming that it would only be your friends popping around in the night?”

Hajime shook his head, the palm of one of his hands pressing into his forehead. “Is that really why you came around here? To say that?”

“Maybe a little,” Kizakura interrupted himself by taking a swig from his flask, licking his lips before continuing. “But what I’m really here to do is complain. Hope you don’t mind, but you are the reason I’m complaining anyway, so let’s call it even.” His easy smile made it rather difficult to tell how serious he was being, as did his tone; either way, Hajime had no reason to be dismissive of him, and the company at night was actually somewhat welcome. 

“Okay... what have I done?”

“You’re really increasing my workload, is what you’re doing. Everyday, I’m sweating bullets, waiting for one of those detectives to figure out I’ve been messing with the security footage. I’m gonna slip up one day, and they’re gonna find you out. So... could you possibly find another way in here? Or stop inviting your friends over.”

Oh, so that’s what this was about. The same dilemma that Hajime had been struggling with earlier... “I’d like to, but there isn’t any other way into this room, is there?”

Kizakura raised an eyebrow at Hajime, and tilted his head towards the back of the room. “Not with that attitude there isn’t.”

“... are you telling me to get them to climb through that window? Mr. Kizakura, we’re on the fourth floor, there’s no way anyone could get up here.”

“Isn’t there? With a man on the inside, there would be no problems with getting that window open, and I’m pretty sure you know someone who could very easily make you some sort of ladder that could reach from here to the ground floor.”

Right... Miu had made him weapons before, making a ladder would be a cinch for her. However, something about the way Kizakura was talking... “Are... are you trying to accuse me of something?” Hajime took a nervous gulp. Kizakura had let on that he sort of knew what they were all getting up to in here, but what if... he was aiming more on the sinister side...

Kizakura’s dry laugh did nothing to allay Hajime’s fears. “No no, of course not. If I thought you were up to anything bad, I wouldn’t be helping you out with the security problem, would I? I’m just giving you an option to help out the both of us... and it’s something to think about in the grand scheme of things, isn’t it?”

What... did that mean? What was he trying to imply? Did he know something, something important? Kizakura was near impossible to read, not unlike Celeste. But whereas she was stern and gracefully calm, Kizakura just had the easy smile and lax exterior. It was trusting... but that just made it even more suspicious. 

To take his mind off of this stress, Hajime instead took the opportunity to ask he something he assumed Kizakura would know the answer to. Or, at the very least, was one of the people most likely to know the answer to it. “... uh, hey, Mr. Kizakura? Do you know Angie Yonaga?”

Kizakura threw up an eyebrow, leaning forward in the chair. “Ms. Yonaga? Of course I do. It would be very irresponsible for the man who scouted her to forget her name.” Once again, he chuckled to himself, apparently finding some humour in his comment. “I assume you mean to ask if I know what she’s up to, yeah? Because no, I don’t. There aren’t cameras in the art room, like most classrooms.”

“That wasn’t quite what I meant... I wanted to know if she’s come out at all. You know, to get food and stuff like that.” 

“Oooohhh, I see. In that case, yeah, she’s fine. Must’ve been Thursday she last left, and she had plenty of snacks with her then. It’s nice of ya to be concerned, but I wouldn’t worry about the girl too much. She must’ve done this... I wanna say... four times last year? She’d vanish into that art room for a week or two, come out maybe once, and she’d be absolutely fine at the end. Granted, having spoken to the girl, I do wonder if those paint fumes are getting to her, you know?” Again, Kizakura laughed at his own comment, and began draining his flask soon after. 

At the very least, he’d eased Hajime’s mind about Angie. But he probably should’ve already figured she’d be okay considering the fact that Tenko hadn’t seemed all that concerned about her all week. And she clearly wasn’t hiding her concern- Tenko was a lot of things, and subtle was definitely not one of them. 

There was now something else that he’d need to see to though- when Monday came around, he’d need to ask Miu to make a really long ladder... come to think of it, Kizakura had some really bad timing, didn’t he? Telling him about this stuff on the last day of the school week, and the day before they were going to go back into the NWP... was this man cursed or something to always screw with Hajime when it came to dates?


	48. Chapter 46

Sunday, May 26th

“... this sucks...”

Tenko grumbled under her breath, barely audible over the rapid slashing of rain on the ground and the roof of the bus shelter she and the other three girls had taken refuge under. Typically, the stupid shelter was wooden though, and evidently not that well constructed or maintained since Tenko swore her shoulders were more damp than even the air she was breathing…

“We’re lucky we got moving as soon as soon as it started spitting, otherwise we’d be soaked right through. None of us are really dressed for the rain, huh?” Mahiru shrugged as she glanced out into the rain, her eyes fixed on nothing in particular. 

Hiyoko snorted as she jeered at Tenko. “Psh, I know, right? Looks like someone was dressed for a ‘party’ instead of a day out.” Tenko squirmed a little as Hiyoko’s cold finger pressed into her exposed stomach, her arms flailing in feeble defiance. 

“H-hey, what do you mean by that?”

“Exposed tummy? Short skirt? It’s totally trashy.” The corners of Hiyoko’s mouth turned up in her display of verbal cruelty, her snide comment hitting its mark with Tenko. 

“What?! But you’ve seen me wear this outfit before! I thought it was cute, why didn’t you tell me it was trashy?” Did she really look that bad? But... she’d put so much work into creating this outfit herself... Tenko’s now wet shoulders sagged as her body drooped forward in defeat, a glum whine slowly trickling out of her mouth. 

“Jeez, don’t say things like that Hiyoko. You look fine Tenko.” As soon as she heard that compliment, Tenko shot back up, Hiyoko’s previous insult dissolving from her mind. 

“You think so? Wow... wait, in that case, I’m one for one...” Tenko quickly turned herself around to face the final member of their party- Himiko. “Quick, Himiko, can you settle this for us? Is my outfit cute or not?”

Tenko could tell that Himiko wasn’t paying full attention to their debate, her tiny hands were gripping her witch’s hat tightly, to stop it from potentially blowing off of her head, her face scrunched up in concentration. “Nyeh... Mahiru didn’t say it was cute...”

Wait, she had been paying attention?! And she... was she really the only one who thought her outfit was cute? “H-huh? Was I... wrong about what it meant to be cute...? Gah, I’ll just have to try harder next time! Next time, I’ll design an outfit so cute it could kill!”

“... I didn’t say it wasn’t already cute…” How could Himiko so that so nonchalantly? She just came out and said it... just like that... she totally called Tenko cute just now! Oh, why was Himiko so cool? 

On the verge of melting, Tenko’s body mostly went limp as she leant back, her body resting against Hiyoko’s- which wasn’t something Hiyoko was very happy about. “Hey, back off! Get off of me, or I’ll bop you like I did yesterday!”

Somewhere beyond Hiyoko’s shrill complaints, Tenko heard a click of some sort, as did Hiyoko and Himiko, all three of their heads turning towards Mahiru, who had brandished her camera, and was staring down at the screen by the time they all realised what had happened. “A photo? Wait, do I look okay? I didn’t come out weird or anything, did I?” Tenko quickly bounced out of her blissful melting and back into her mild state of panic.

Mahiru calmly chuckled to herself, smiling at the other three. “You look absolutely fine Tenko, but even if you didn’t, I wouldn’t delete the photo.” At that comment, a self conscious paranoia bubbled up inside Tenko’s stomach, an expression of mortification spreading out over her face. Upon spotting it, Mahiru hurried to fix any potential damage she might’ve done. “You seem very self conscious about your appearance Tenko. I’m not really that skilled at putting together cute outfits, or even doing makeup, but... one of your friends is very good at that sort of thing. If you’re that interested in making yourself look extra nice.” Tenko watched Mahiru’s eyes drift towards Hiyoko, who Tenko had noticed had begun vehemently shaking her head. Aww, she must’ve been embarrassed about that being brought up, how cute!

Folding her arms, Hiyoko dramatically sighed. “Sure, I can give you fashion advice. Tch, you need all the help you can get after all-“ Hiyoko didn’t have time to finish before Tenko had scooped her up in her arms, hugging her so tightly that their cheeks pressed together. 

“Aww, thank you Hiyoko! That’s so kind of you! You always look so pretty, I’m sure I can learn a lot from you!” 

“J-jeez... shut up, it’s not... it doesn’t mean anything. I’m only even considering it because Mahiru brought it up!” Tenko could feel Hiyoko’s resistance to her hug diminishing rather quickly, though she never tried to hug her back. Although, she did hear Hiyoko mutter something under her breath. “Ugh... I bet the other three don’t have to put up with anything like this...”

Slack-jawed amazement was the only possible reaction Hajime could’ve had to watching Chiaki play literally anything in the arcade. Even beyond the realm of video games- Chiaki was a master of everything inside the arcade. And after following her around all afternoon, he’d come to realise that her talent was the real deal. After each siege of every machine, she left behind her ‘signature’, without fail, at every one... At least he now knew why all the high scores on all the machines were registered under CHI...

Nothing could stand against her. Games he expected her to be a pro at, like the really old school PAC-MAN and Galaga machines- destroyed. Those non-brand pinball machines that no one played? Of course Chiaki decimated her own previous high score with her first ball. Perhaps out of morbid curiosity, Hajime had even challenged Chiaki to a few rounds of air hockey, he figured that a game like that wouldn’t quite fit within her parameters of expertise... but the fact that he lost four games without earning a single point against the girl clearly proved otherwise. 

“Jeez... you really put me through the wringer there Chiaki. I didn’t think you could be that intense...” After that entirely one sided battle, the two of them had stepped out of the arcade, just to get a little bit of fresh air. Or... very damp air. The rain had started to pour down before Hajime and Makoto had actually left the dorms, which had allowed for them to prepare themselves much better for the sudden downpour than any of their other friends. At least Chiaki and Komaru had arrived before the rain had started, Hiyoko and Tenko on the other hand… hopefully they were okay. 

“Sorry... I just get really focused whenever I play a game. I’ve been like that for a long time… I think. Even board games and those silly little party games you play with friends, I always take them super seriously...” Hajime couldn’t help but notice the forlorn expression Chiaki bore as she stared out into the rain. “Is it... any fun to play with me?”

“Honestly...” Hajime folded his arms as he too joined Chiaki in staring out into the rain. “Being so utterly crushed like that? It’s... fun in its own way. It’s probably because I’m playing with THE Ultimate Gamer, even if I’m on the receiving end, it’s pretty cool to see your skills in action. It has been all day. It really reminded me why I look up to Ultimates so much...”

Hajime had thought Chiaki would take what he’d said as a compliment- he’d meant it as one, and he thought he’d been pretty obvious about his praise, and yet her frown only worsened. “Hajime... my talent isn’t something to admire...”

Oh... OH! Had it sounded like he was praising her talent, and not Chiaki herself? Stumbling over his words a little, Hajime attempted to rectify that mistake. “Well... I uh... I don’t just admire your talent, you know. Talent isn’t something you’re born with, it’s a skill you develop. So... I can tell you’ve put a lot of effort into it.”

Chiaki didn’t respond. And Hajime didn’t know what else to say. 

Their heavy silence was interrupted only by the pattering of rain against the concrete. Never had Hajime been so close to someone, yet felt so distant at the same time. It almost felt as if it were just him and his thoughts, gazing out into the gloomy world. The same world Chiaki was also staring into... did she see the same things he did? The same buildings that all blended into one another because of the relentless rain, the same cars parked across the street, the same-

A growling thunder pierced both of their ears, as a bolt of lightning ruptured the dreary sky. Hajime’s heart nearly leapt out of his chest, though Chiaki remained as obliviously dauntless as ever. “... that was pretty loud, huh?”

“Y-yeah...” The shaky laugh that accompanied Hajime’s response proved impossible to suppress. How could Chiaki stay so calm all the time? Actually, she wasn’t always calm, was she? Whenever she’d get excited, her emotional side would flair up. Like yesterday, at lunch... 

Before he could ponder Chiaki’s emotional state any further, she spoke once more. “Let’s go back inside. We’re going to get cold if we just stand out here... I think.”

“You’re right... Uh, hey, Chiaki, maybe we could... play some more games together too?”

“You want to play... with me?” That seemed to surprise Chiaki for some reason, her head tilting to the side. “Are you sure?”

“O-of course.” Her own hesitance actually threw him off a little as well, but they both recovered fairly quickly, the soft smile Chiaki gave him setting Hajime’s mind at ease. 

“Alright then... why don’t you pick something else for us to play Hajime?”

No pressure there, huh? Choosing something else to play with the Ultimate Gamer. Still, there was something Hajime wanted to try... an old foe...

Hajime’s choice of DDR wasn’t just because he assumed he stood a fighting chance against Chiaki in it, but he also needed to prove to himself that he’d become lighter on his feet after the last time he’d played with Komaru. He couldn’t afford to still lack impressive, or at least competent, footwork, not with the ever-present threat of Shadows within the NWP. Hiyoko had dancing in her veins, and from what little she had shown them of her battle skill, that fanciful footwork of hers made her a force to be reckoned with.

“A bold choice Hajime... you should know that I’m a very good dancer...” By Chiaki’s monotone delivery, Hajime wasn’t so sure if that was serious or not. And he became even less sure when Chiaki kicked her shoes off of her feet, and wore them on her hands.

“Ch-Chiaki...? What are you doing?”

“I’m getting ready to play, of course...” Squatting down on the dance platform, Chiaki rolled her wrists a couple of times. Hajime had garnered a pretty good idea of what she was planning to do, but there was no way it would actually work... would it?

Makoto couldn’t help but snicker while watching his two friends dance. Or... ‘dance’. Though Hajime’s feet moved pretty quickly, he lacked an overall sense of rhythm; it ultimately looked as if he was just flailing his legs around and slamming them onto the panels. To be fair to him though, he was probably being thrown off by Chiaki. Although Chiaki’s score was comparatively much better than Hajime’s, her technique was... certifiably unique, that was for certain. Her crouching stance looked really uncomfortable, as did the way she spun around to slam her hands down on panels, yet her score showed that it was paying off. Somehow...

“Aww... they’re so cute!” Over all the music of the arcade; the music his friends were ‘dancing’ to, and the whirs, clicks, and buzzes the other machines played in a desperate bid to attract players, Makoto easily heard Komaru’s cooing next to him. 

“Cute? Heh-heh... disastrous, more like...”

Komaru rolled her eyes. “I’m not talking about their actual moves. Those are awful. I’m talking about the two of them! Hajime and his girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend? I didn’t know Hajime had a girlfriend...” Makoto scratched the side of his head, confused. What was Komaru even talking about? The disappointed glare she sent his way clearly indicated that he should know... “Wait, Chiaki? Those two aren’t dating... I don’t think... I mean, they’ve only know each other for a few weeks at most...”

“Really?” Komaru reeled back, apparently shocked by that revelation. “Huh... Umm... whoops... still though, you see what I mean, right? Even if they aren’t dating, isn’t this just like a scene out of a romance manga?”

“... not really...”

“Ugh, you just can’t appreciate a blossoming romance!”

“H-hey, I can! Besides, a second ago, you assumed they were already dating! You jumped way past the blossoming romance bit!”

“... do those two argue a lot?” Somehow, Chiaki wasn’t at all out of breath by the time she and Hajime had finished. Must’ve had something to do with her ‘dance style’... He, on the other hand, was was a breathless mess. He could feel the strands of hair sticking to his slick forehead, and the back of his neck...

“L-like that? I’m... not sure... I’ve seen them argue a couple of times... I guess it’s just a thing siblings do, huh?”

Chiaki nodded in agreement. “Yeah. They must be really close to argue like that.”

“I’m... not sure that’s what that means...”

Soon enough, it came time for them to return to the academy. The storm that had been rumbling outside all afternoon hadn’t lightened up at all- if anything, it had somehow gotten worse. Hajime hadn’t spotted any more lightning, but it was impossible to not hear the thunderous claps in the sky. 

“Aww man... I really hoped the rain would’ve stopped after we spent so long inside...” Komaru hung her head low, understandably, considering that her outfit was not geared towards torrential downpours whatsoever. He distinctly remembered her and Makoto having an argument about that before too, about basically wearing their school uniforms on the weekends. 

“It’s alright Komaru. Here, take this.” From out of his hoodie, Makoto pulled a collapsible umbrella. Hajime knew he had it, they’d both brought umbrellas with them to the arcade, but didn’t that mean...

“Thanks Makoto, but what are you going to do-“

“It’s alright.” Makoto flipped his hood up, and slid his cast-bound arm into his jacket. “I have this, and you’ve got way further to go. I’ll just run.” He flashed a smile at Hajime and Chiaki, briefly hunching his shoulders as he did. “I’ll see you two later. Bye Komaru!” Makoto then immediately took off at a sprint, waving back as he did. 

“Makoto, be careful-“ Hajime called out to his friend, though he was well aware Makoto wouldn’t have been able to hear him at that point. Sure enough though, Makoto did stumble before he completely left their line of sight; thankfully he didn’t actually fall over. 

Komaru sighed. “He can be so hopeless sometimes...” Shaking her head, she smiled at Hajime and Chiaki. Like brother like sister, he supposed. “Anyway, stay safe you two. And I’m sure I’ll see you again soon!” Much more calmly than Makoto’s exit, Komaru gave the two of them a small wave before she turned around, popping open Makoto’s umbrella, and took off at a brisk walk. 

“... we should be heading off too Chiaki.” When he saw Chiaki pulling up her own hood, he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, what are you doing? There’s room for the two of us under my umbrella, you know.” Chiaki looked up at him from under her hood with those large, curious eyes of hers... did she really think he wasn’t going to share? Or maybe she just didn’t think he’d have an umbrella...

“... why didn’t you offer to let Makoto walk under it too?”

“Oh, uh...” Hajime rubbed the back of his head with the hand not loosely gripping the handle of the umbrella he’d opened up for them. “He took off before I could even think about offering.”

“Oh... so you were trying to raise my flags, not his?”

“I’m... sorry?”

Chiaki shook her head. “If you don’t get it, that’s okay. Come on, let’s go back to the academy...”

Wordlessly, the two then began their walk back to Hope’s Peak. Considering how much he’d seen Chiaki move about today, she walked surprisingly slowly... this was going to be a very long walk back, wasn’t it?

It must’ve been about ten minutes into their journey that either one of them spoke. “Hey Hajime? Since we’re under an umbrella in a storm, do you think we’ll get struck by lightning?”

“... please don’t put a thought like that into my head.”

“Sorry, I was just... making small talk. I guess. To lighten the mood.”

The silence must’ve been awkward for her then. Perhaps she was in the same situation Hajime had found himself in earlier with her. “To lighten the mood? There’s no need to do that. I didn’t think the mood was... uh... bad? Umm... sorry, I guess I don’t really know what to say either. I had fun today though.”

“Did you? Even though you were just watching me most of the time?” Relentlessly, Chiaki stared ahead of them, out into the world of grey they were passing through. It was something he’d noticed about Chiaki, whenever she spoke seriously, she wouldn’t look at him. 

“Of course I had fun. Like I said before, seeing an Ultimate do their thing was incredible. And we did play some games together... even if you beat me in every single one...”

Chiaki’s response... seemingly came out of nowhere. “Hajime... don’t you think ‘Ultimate Gamer’ is a silly talent? I’m not even that good at every type or genre...”

Hajime restrained himself from commenting on how she could’ve fooled him on that last part... It sounded as if she was doubting her talent. Why though? She was passionate about games, and she was clearly good at them. Why shouldn’t she be the Ultimate Gamer? Did she... just think the title sounded a little silly? 

In the end, Hajime didn’t have a real answer for her, since he wasn’t entirely sure what she was even asking, which prompted Chiaki to take her point on a tangent Hajime also hadn’t expected. “There’s a girl in my class who’s the Ultimate Musician, but she doesn’t know how to play every instrument or genre of music. And with Hope’s Peak also bringing in the Ultimate Pop Sensation and Ultimate Pianist, doesn’t that make her talent seem... almost fake? Like... it’s too vague... like Hope’s Peak doesn’t actually know how to define the talents it effectively assigns to people.”

Last Sunday... Chiaki said something similar, didn’t she? She expressed a sort of disdain for talent... the way it railroads so many kids. She’d complimented Hiyoko for having interests outside of dancing, and she’d said something about how lucky he was to not have a talent... From his point of view, he couldn’t fully understand what Chiaki was trying to say. He just... couldn’t understand questioning talent. Questioning Hope’s Peak... “Chiaki... I...” The shudder that ran over Hajime’s body might’ve just saved him. He didn’t really know what to say to Chiaki, and it quickly shifted the subject. 

“Hajime? What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing... my... shoulder is just getting a little damp, that’s all...” It wasn’t actually that bad, the occasional spray from the water running off the edge of his umbrella was just catching on his shoulder. That was enough for Chiaki to want to intervene though.

“Well that’s no good, is it? Sorry I’m taking up space...”

“What? No, you-“ Hajime was promptly silenced when Chiaki wrapped her left arm around his right, her shoulder pressed tight against his upper arm. 

“There... now you can cover your shoulder.” She smiled so innocently at him when she proudly declared that... it made Hajime feel even more ridiculous for being unable to maintain eye contact with her...

Sure, he might’ve been getting a little cold, but this wasn’t... It was embarrassing just how embarrassed he actually felt in that moment. He blamed all the media he’d watched growing up, conditioning him to believe that something like this was special in some way. And yet... all it took to fend off his chill was the warmth of her body by his...

Chiaki Nanami... he hadn’t know her for very long, and yet she was proving to be almost as mysterious as the NWP, in her own weird way. She was usually so quiet and reserved, and then she’d come out with issues like her opinions on talent... worries like that, her fears and anxieties... they seemed like heavy burdens to bear on such small shoulders. 

Perhaps... now that she’d sort of joined their group... she’d allow her friends to ease her troubles. 

Thou art I... And I am thou... Thou hast established a new bond... 

It brings to thee a new hope...

Thou hast been blessed by the Priestess Arcana...

Kaede must’ve been an oracle, or something to that effect, for her to have suggested today, of all days, be the day he spends taking care of himself. 

Shuichi held no doubt in his mind that the weather was not quite as aesthetically pleasing outside as it was inside, but it was difficult not not enjoy himself while in his own room, looking out into a gloomy sky, raindrops sliding down his window.

The rooms of every Ultimate were somewhat customised to fit their talents, however, Shuichi’s room had always felt to appeal more so to the appearance of a detective than being actually useful. Although that was probably because Kyoko’s room was also tailored to being the home of the Ultimate Detective... and as the headmasters daughter, she would naturally receive exquisite treatment. Even if that was unfair, it wasn’t as if he held that against the headmaster- in his position, Shuichi supposed he’d probably do the same. Blood is thicker than water, and all that…

That wasn’t to say he didn’t like his room though. In fact, it was the exact opposite- the quaint, understated interior of his room made him feel right at home. Shelves of books lined the walls, scenting the dorm room like a library. The contents of the books were significantly less pleasant, though it wasn’t as if Shuichi had to read them. The centre piece, however, was the decorative fire place. Being situated on the bottom floor of a building, and because he was expected to move rooms over the next few years, he couldn’t actually have a real fire place and chimney, but he’d fashioned an alternative that served the same purpose. Since the fire place was purely ornamental, there was no coal or fire wood within its hearth. So, all Shuichi has to do to ‘use’ the fire place was put a small, portable heater inside of it. Then, all he needed to do was sit back in his old wooden rocking chair, and relax. Close his eyes... and relax within the comfortable confines of his proverbial office, the rain outside serving as a sweet lullaby.

And relax he had. All day, Shuichi had lost himself within his own world of comfort. The pounding rain against his window, and every rumble of thunder, did little to disturb that comfort. Although... it did make him pity Maki. She had to deal with a group of small kids in these stormy conditions... not to mention getting there and back... Obviously she’d be fine, this was Maki he was talking about, but his heart never quite managed to push aside that concern. 

Even so, Shuichi didn’t stir until he heard a soft tap at his door. Then another, much more desperate in its speed and intensity. Glancing at his wall clock revealed that it was nearly midnight... jeez, he really had gotten carried away with his self-care... maybe he was just that tired...

Stumbling over his still half asleep legs, Shuichi made his way over to his door. Who could’ve been knocking this late at night anyway? Rubbing at half lidded eyes, Shuichi opened his door to a guest he hadn’t at all expected. 

Cowering in a pale pink nightgown, Himiko stood outside his room, clutching a large stuffed animal to her chest. It looked to be a big cat of some sort, though the white fur didn’t make it immediately obvious exactly which creature it was supposed to be. Though that was hardly the main issue here. “H-Himiko? What are you doing here s-so late? Is something wrong?”

Himiko silently, yet fervently, nodded her head, her face buried into the fur of her toy. “I-I was... having some trouble sleeping...”

Oh, the storm must’ve been disturbing her... but... “Why did you come over here because of that?”

“Nyeh... I w-went to Tenko’s room... but she w-w-wasn’t there... Umm... actually... she was probably just asleep...” Tenko... not in her room at night… no no, Himiko was probably right. Tenko was likely just asleep already. 

“So you thought I might be awake?” Shuichi lightly laughed, clearly Himiko hadn’t thought too hard about this. And it showed in her physical response. Her small face rose from her toy, a bashful blush coating her cheeks. 

“W-well... you know... you-“

The sound of thunder was significantly louder out in the hallway; the clap forced Himiko’s face back into her toy, and she jolted forward in an attempt to push past Shuichi. It... didn’t really work... she was really just walking into him over and over again, her forehead bumping into his chest over and over. It... was kind of cute actually. 

Regardless of that though, her reaction had proved something else to him, the real reason she was out and about tonight- she wasn’t just being disturbed by the storm, she was afraid of storms. Or maybe it was just thunder. Either way, it was fear that had pushed her to seek himself and Tenko out. Without another word, Shuichi ushered her inside. He wasn’t sure what comfort he could actually offer, but maybe just having someone with her would be enough. 

Himiko made a beeline for his bed as soon as she was in his room, seating herself at its edge, the death grip she held her stuffed toy in now even more obvious as she hugged it tightly against her body. Quietly closing his door, Shuichi joined her on his bed. “Umm... are you going to be alright Himiko? D-do you need me to get you anything?”

“Nuh-uh...” Himiko shook her head again, her eyes gradually rolling around the room before landing back on him. “Y-your... room is nice... it’s cozy...”

“Funny you should say that... I spent most of today revelling in that fact.” Shuichi scratched his cheek with one finger as he softly laughed. Speaking of his room though... “Hey, actually, do you want to go sit over there?” Himiko followed his extended arm until her eyes landed on his rocking chair. She briefly looked between him and the chair before standing up and shuffling over to it. 

Himiko looked the chair over a few times before she sat down on it. She must’ve noticed the apparent age of the thing... “Mmm... it’s nice and warm...” Himiko wiggled about on the chair, clearly making herself right at home, and adjusted the pillow that Shuichi had been using all day to better suit her. When Shuichi walked over to join her, she looked up at him with raised eyebrows... what was she looking at? “Shuichi... I’ve never seen you without your hat on before...”

Out of pure instinct, Shuichi’s hand flew to his head in a vain attempt to cover up the bed hair he assumed he must’ve had. “Y-you haven’t? Uh... I g-guess I do wear it around school a lot, huh...? Ah-ha... ha-ha...” Himiko ignored his nervous laughter, yawning instead. 

“Mmm... you’re right...” Sleepy as ever... it sounded as if she was already slipping out of consciousness. In fact, it was quite hard to believe that she ever suffered from sleeplessness, regardless of her personal fears, based on what Shuichi knew about Himiko.

A comfortable silence ensued. It was only when Shuichi heard soft snoring that he’d realised that Himiko really had fallen asleep that easily. Well... that might’ve been for the best... what else could he have done to comfort her? Besides, he needed to retire soon anyway. Even if he had been asleep all afternoon, he still needed a good nights sleep. And if Himiko woke up in the middle of the night, at least she’d know he was there... she could wake him up if necessary...

Nothing happened. Nothing was happening. When Chiaki placed her palm against the screen that they used to enter the NWP, nothing happened. Her hand didn’t sink in like everyone else’s would have. 

“Huh? That’s odd...” Tenko muttered as she stepped forward. She placed her own hand on the screen, and it slipped through just fine. “What’s up with that?”

Makoto clicked his fingers together, a shallow gasp of remembrance accompanying the sound. “Oh, actually, when Hajime and I first entered the NWP, something like this happened as well. When I touched the screen, nothing happened, but when Hajime did his hand passed through... I wonder why?”

That was true... Hajime still hadn’t figured that part out yet either... but it did offer a solution to their issue. Hopefully. “But we both ended up inside anyway, right? In that case, would Chiaki be able to pass through if one of us were going through at the same time?”

“Only one way to find out!” Tenko proudly declared, forcing her hand back into screen. “Go on Chiaki, try it now.”

Silently nodding, Chiaki pressed her hand against the screen once more; this time though, her hand did pass through too. Interesting... Without a word, Chiaki climbed on in, and Tenko promptly followed behind her. Makoto wasn’t far behind, but as Hajime stepped forward, he felt Hiyoko’s hand grab the back of his shirt. 

She’d been quiet up until now... uncharacteristically quiet, and when Hajime turned to face her, he was greeted by a harsh glare of suspicion. “So... Hajime? Are you hiding something from us?”

Her question cut straight to the point... but what did she mean? Undoubtably, there were some things he hadn’t shared with everyone... Miaya’s death, that notebook he’d found, or even those dreams with Sonia and the old man, but what was the point in bringing up those things now? “H-Hiyoko, I-“

“You all think that the culprit behind the recent murders has been putting students into the Neo World whatever, right? Funny that you’re the only one who’s always had that ability...” Hiyoko’s voice was befittingly cold for her allegation. One that Hajime knew was false, but still made his body stiffen, a chill rushing down his spine. Hiyoko... thought that he was the murderer?

“Hiyoko, no, I promise I’m not-“

“I didn’t say you were,” Hiyoko cooed, her tone returning to that light and childish one he was used to, her grin wide and mischievous. “But you got awfully worked up over something I didn’t actually say. I’ve got my eye on you...” Hiyoko glared at Hajime one last time before she climbed into the NWP herself, leaving Hajime in a stunned silence. 

What... had just happened? Had Hiyoko... really suggested that he was the killer...?

“Alright team,” Tenko pumped her fists into the air as she began her speech. Finally, it seemed like she was stepping up as the leader she proclaimed herself to be... “This time is a bit different to all our other trips. Remember, we’re actively looking for Chiaki’s Shadow, and there’s no time pressure to save anyone, so there’s also no need for us to split up for once.”

“But... can we even be sure that Chiaki’s Shadow is here? We don’t exactly know what makes a Shadow form in the first place.” Makoto raised another good point. What did make a Shadow form? It couldn’t have been time related, after all, his and Makoto’s Shadows had appeared the first time they’d entered the NWP. 

Hajime could feel a pair of eyes boring holes into his back... “Why don’t you ask Hajime? He might have an idea about that...” Hiyoko’s chipper voice belied the implications of her statement, though no one else seemed to quite pick up on her angle, even as the other three turned to face him. 

“... sorry, I don’t know. We’ll just have to look around the islands.” 

“Don’t worry about it Hajime! It’ll be a fun little adventure for us all, I’m sure.” Tenko beamed at him as she placed her hands firmly onto Chiaki’s shoulders from behind. Somehow, that smile actually managed to alleviate some of the tension that had dogged him since Hiyoko’s accusation. “If you don’t mind Hajime, can you look after Chiaki while we’re here? I think you’re the most defensively oriented guy we have... which makes you perfect for body guard duty. Right?”

Hajime just shrugged. He didn’t have a problem with being in charge of looking after Chiaki while she was still defenceless. And neither did Chiaki, apparently. “That’s okay... I think. From what I’ve seen as Usami, I think you made the right call Tenko. As expected of the leader, you know your teammates so well.”

Tenko immediately reeled back upon hearing that compliment, and began twirling a strand of hair by her head around a finger, a bashful blush spreading over her blissful face. “N-no, that’s... I’m not that incredible... heh-heh-heh... thank you anyway.”

Hajime heard Hiyoko grunt after Chiaki said that. Did her suspicions really run that deep? “Whatever... come on, let’s just get this over with...” With a blatant frown on her face, Hiyoko stomped away from the cottages. 

“Hmm... she seems like she’s in a bad mood...” Makoto mused to himself as he followed her off. 

“Wait! Don’t just wander off you two! We need to stick together! Ugh... C’mon you two, we better catch up with them!” Tenko waved for Hajime and Chiaki to follow as she jogged off after Hiyoko and Makoto; they both followed close behind her. 

“You guys are so cool...” Hajime could barely hear Chiaki over the rush of battle, her soft voice getting lost amidst the explosions of fire and powerful gusts of wind. 

During their scouting of the second island, their group had stumbled upon a rather large cluster of small Shadows, as well as those bear-shaped ones. As ordered, Hajime had hung back in order to protect Chiaki. It was undoubtably the easiest job, only the occasional Shadow managed to slip past the nigh impenetrable offence that was Tenko and Hiyoko. Hiyoko’s fan sliced through Shadows like they were nothing, and Tenko’s kicks and punches sent the blobs flying all directions. Even the bears couldn’t stand up to them, the magic from their Persona’s tearing through them with relative ease. 

Makoto had taken up a position between the front line and the rear; he was largely out of the way of combat, and was instead focusing on healing any wounds that Tenko or Hiyoko sustained. Granted... Hajime was almost certain that Hiyoko hadn’t even been hit yet. Her every movement was executed with such grace and fluidity that it look choreographed... as expected of a dancer. Tenko though... well, they were all aware of how haphazard she could be during combat, and today was no different. 

It was during one of their moments of total reprieve that Chiaki tugged on Hajime’s sleeve whist he was preoccupied poking the ground with his bat. “Hajime? What’s wrong?”

She... was remarkably talented at seeing right through him. “Hmm? Nothing’s wrong, why?” Chiaki’s pout made it clear she could tell he was lying through his teeth. 

“... earlier, you spoke to Tenko much differently to how you usually do.”

Wow... Even he hadn’t realised anything quite like that... “A-are you sure? I thought I was pretty normal with her...”

Chiaki shook her head. “No, no you weren’t. I’m sure of that. I’ve seen you two interact a lot, as both myself and Usami, and you’re usually a lot more disobedient with her. You weren’t like this earlier today... so, what happened?”

“I...” Could he really tell Chiaki about what Hiyoko had said? About what her thoughts were...? No... no that invited its own set of issues. If Hiyoko knew he was sharing information with Chiaki, but no one else, then that could implicate Chiaki in Hiyoko’s eyes as well... “It’s... just some personal stuff, that’s all... and... what was that about me being disobedient? You make me sound like a kid disobeying his parents.”

Chiaki brought a finger to her lips, lightly tapping on them as she stared off into the bright blue sky. “Don’t worry Hajime, it’s not a bad thing. You’re her lancer, that’s all. It’s normal for you two to disagree a lot.”

She’d used terms like that before... but Hajime had no idea what they meant. “Uhh... what’s a lancer?”

“Oh, right...” Chiaki tilted her head back and forth, clearly trying to find the words to explain what she meant. “I don’t really know the full extent of the terms, since they’re more important to literature, but those sorts of character dynamics are fairly common in RPG’s with a heavy focus on characters in a single party. Our group is fairly similar to the five man band archetype, but it wasn’t until today that I finally figured out how it all came together.” This was probably the most Hajime had ever heard her talk about anything... it was actually quite refreshing, especially after their discussions earlier that day, to see Chiaki be so happy while talking. “Obviously, Tenko fulfils the role of the leader. And you’re her lancer. The lancer is the second in command type, but the most important part of them is their relationship with the leader. Usually, the lancer always challenges the leader, and you challenge pretty much everything Tenko suggests.”

“Jeez... when you put it like that, you make me sound like a real jerk...” If Chiaki was trying to cheer him up, it wasn’t working that well.

“Oh... did it sound like I was criticising you? Sorry... because that wasn’t what I was trying to say. I see it as a good thing. The relationship between the two of you must be very strong for you to butt heads so much and still work together.”

Hajime rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. “Really? Because I feel like I’ve always kinda been at odds with her...”

Innocently, Chiaki smiled. “So maybe it’s a love thing then? Hajime, are you a tsundere?” That sparkle in her eyes... Why was Chiaki so interested in his relationship with Tenko? 

“Love? No, I don’t think so. I can safely say that Tenko is not interested in me like that. At all. And for the record, I’m not interested in her either.” Chiaki’s smile never let up, and it was starting to actually make Hajime feel slightly embarrassed. Why though, he didn’t have any romantic feelings for Tenko, so why...?

Hajime quickly spun on his heel as he heard something lunge for the two of them. With a firm grunt, he brought his bat down onto the head of one of those bears, stunning it before he took another strong swing at its stomach, tearing the Shadow in two. “S-sorry guys!” Makoto yelled back at them, a sheepish grin on his face before he returned his concentration to the front lines. 

That interruption to the conversation Hajime and Chiaki were having seemed a permanent one; Chiaki didn’t resume talking after that close call...

“Uuuuu... this is taking forever...” Tenko whined as the group arrived at the park on the central island, her head hung low, and her arms limply swinging back and forth. 

Makoto ran his unwounded hand through his hair as he leaned back against the statue in the middle of the park. “No kidding... we’ve been everywhere... all we’ve seen are tons of generic Shadow’s...”

“At least it’s been some decent training for you guys. I’ve been gathering dust at the back of the group protecting Chiaki.”

Skimming over Hajime’s grumbled complaints, Tenko immediately turned to Hiyoko, who was just kicking dust up, not really paying much attention to the rest of them. “Speaking of! Hiyoko, have you gotten used to your powers yet? You handled your Persona really well during all our fights, especially with that magic of yours! You were all like ‘whoooosh’ and ‘swish’ with you wind, and with your fan you were all like-“

“Yeah yeah, we get it, you can shut up now. For fucks sake, you can never keep that trashy mouth of yours shut, can you?” For all the venom packed into Hiyoko’s words, she distinctly lacked any volume. In fact, she was almost mumbling... 

“Gah! S-sorry Hiyoko, I didn’t mean to upset you!” Hajime had noticed that Tenko was often quick to apologise to Hiyoko... what was up with that? She would never do that sort of thing for him or Makoto...

A soft clicking sound suddenly silenced all of them.

“Hey, did you guys hear-“ Makoto words cut off, replaced by a short-lived scream as he tumbled down. The statue behind him had begun to crawl backwards, revealing a staircase beneath it... but of more concern to Hajime, Chiaki, and Tenko was the sound of Makoto’s body rolling down those stairs into an inky black abyss.

“Makoto! Are you okay?!” Hajime shouted down into the darkness as he and Tenko ran to the edge of the stairs. 

But instead of a response to that... Makoto shouted up something equal parts alarming and exciting. “You guys... I-I think you’ll wanna come down here... I-I think I found her...”

“Chiaki’s Shadow...!” Tenko whispered under her breath, verbalising the thought both she and Hajime had shared, before she took off down the stairs. 

“Finally. Let’s get this over with already...” Hiyoko pouted as she hopped down the stairs as well. 

Silently, Chiaki stood next to Hajime. She was staring into the total blackness before them. And Hajime had a feeling he knew why. “Are you nervous? If your Shadow is down there... we all know what’s going to happen...”

Nodding her head, Chiaki looked between Hajime and the hole at her feet. “A little bit, yeah... I’m not sure what my Shadow is going to say exactly... and I don’t know if I’m ready to hear it or not... but I’ll never know until I hear it. So... let’s go.” The solemn nod Chiaki gave to him was clearly more for herself and her own peace-of-mind than him. And with that gesture, the two of them descended down beneath the park...

Perhaps it was because of the natural absurdity of the Neo World Programme, but finding a hidden staircase beneath a statue didn’t strike any of the team as odd in any way. What did strike each of them as peculiar though was what the room at the bottom of the stairs looked like. At the bottom of the pitch black staircase was a corridor. A corridor equally as dark as the staircase leading down into it, and yet... it emanated a far more ‘out of place’ aura. The walls were a dull, untextured grey, metallic and artificial. They were entirely unlike anything else any of them had seen on any of the other islands. Almost like… they were designed and never finished.

Despite housing several buildings on each of the main islands, none of them appeared as mechanically cold and industrial as this one corridor. Even the ceiling and ground beneath their feet reeked of artificiality. 

At the end of the corridor... a dull green glow wrapped around a small, human figure. A surprisingly familiar human figure. In terms of appearance, Chiaki’s Shadow fell more in line with Makoto’s than Tenko or Hiyoko’s- it looked almost identical to Chiaki in every way, even down to the cat hoodie and backpack. Alarmingly, however, was that glow around her. A small box around her wasn’t just lit up in swaths of green- no, the entire area around it was being distorted. One’s and zero’s ran along the walls around the Shadow, wrapping around the floors and ceiling too. Just like the walls it was distorting, this breakdown of the world around the Shadow was jarringly artificial. It severed as an uncomfortable reminder that they were inside a computer... and that here, the five of them were likely little more than a complicated web of binary code as well. 

“... so, what now?” Tenko was the only one to verbalise the question on the rest of their minds. Something wasn’t right here, they were all positive of that. A long corridor leading to the ‘prize’ at the end- it reeked of a trap. Even so, what option did they have?

“Stay on guard everyone... and let’s go to her...” Chiaki stepped forward first, and led the march towards her Shadow, her fingers apprehensively wrapped around the straps of her backpack. Hajime and Tenko were quick to tail her and take up positions on either side of her, for her protection. Makoto flanked the trio, whereas Hiyoko plodded along behind all of them. 

Every step Hajime took filled him with a little more dread, a fearful anticipation of what could possibly happen at any moment... and the fact that nothing was happening was only solidifying the rock of anxiety growing in his gut. Not even the Shadow was reacting at all...

Not until they came to the edge of the ‘box’ surrounding the Shadow. “STOP!” Its voice quivered in fear, its arms flying over its head in a protective manner. Chiaki’s Shadow... it seemed far more docile than any Shadow any of them had encountered before... then again, it could have been a facade, Hiyoko’s Shadow seemed relatively harmless at first too. 

Taking a nervous gulp, Chiaki stepped forward, just once, before she started to speak. “H-hello... you’re my Shadow... right? Umm... I’m not sure how to say this, but can you come with us? I need to borrow your power... my friends need-“

“F-friends...?” The Shadow stuttered through Chiaki’s short speech, pointing an accusatory finger between Hajime and Tenko. “Those p-people aren’t your friends! How could they be? They barely know you, they can’t be your friends!”

“H-hey, that’s not-“ Tenko began, before immediately being cut off by the Shadow. 

“W-were you about to say that that isn’t true? B-because it is! These people just want to use you... to add a little bit of power to their own... and once they’re done with you, you’ll be tossed aside! Everyone’s the same... s-someone like you... we don’t have a place to belong in the real world. The ‘Ultimate Gamer’? What a wordless talent... once this year is over, you’ll just be another societal reject- all the people in our class you think of as ‘friends’ will forget all about you! You’ll rot away alone, unloved and forgotten by the world!”

“Chiaki...” Hajime moved his arm to try and reassuringly hold Chiaki’s shoulder, but as soon as he saw the look on her face, he faltered. Her lips were pulled into a thin line, her light pink eyes sombrely dulled as she stared past her Shadow; a trembling hand gripping the ribbon around her collar tightly. Of course, they all knew that what the Shadow was saying was something of an exaggeration of Chiaki’s feelings; that meant that the feelings were rooted in reality- Chiaki really did feel this way, to some extent. 

“G-guys... is it just me, or is it getting a little hotter in here?” Makoto whispered, tugging at the neck of his hoodie. 

Tenko looked back over her shoulder, throwing up an eyebrow. “Hot? Funny you’d say that, I’m getting kinda cold...”

“Psh, that’s probably because you’re still barely wearing anything.” Hiyoko teasingly jibed back, turning her nose up at Tenko. 

Chiaki’s head suddenly shot up, alert to... something that the others weren’t. “We need to run... everyone, we need to run!” It took no time at all for Hajime to notice exactly what had garnered Chiaki’s attention. A soft blue glow had begun to radiate from the Shadow’s body... a significantly harsher light glowing from its eyes. It kind of reminded Hajime of something he’d seen before... but he couldn’t quite place it...

His pondering was cut short, however, when Chiaki’s body collided with his, pushing the two out of the way of a blockade of giant icicles that pushed out of the floor. There was no time for reprieve after that narrow aversion of death though; the screeching of metal-on-metal rang both above their heads and below their feet.

“S-stop standing around Hajime, let’s go!” Tenko’s voice wavered only slightly as she scooped Makoto and Chiaki up under her arms with relative ease. Hiyoko has already taken off, climbing into Ame-no-Uzume’s tub, she was already nearing the staircase by the time the rest of them were ready to run too. 

Somehow, even while carrying two people under her arms, Tenko still managed to pull ahead of Hajime whilst they were running. For whatever reason, this lead to Hajime turning his head back to see what was happening behind him... which was almost certainly a grave mistake. The corridor that they had all been standing in was, seemingly, one giant booby trap- beyond those icicles at the end, there were jets of fire blowing searing heat across the width of the corridor, sharp spikes bouncing out of holes in the floor Hajime was sure hadn’t been there before, not to mention the numerous instances of the the walls, floors, and roof meeting to create make-shift presses. The thought of being trapped on the platform of a hydraulic press was… less than ideal.

Cold sweat beaded down Hajime’s back and face as the adrenaline boost kicked in; gulping down his fears, he forced his legs to push on alongside Tenko until they joined Hiyoko at the top of the stairs, back outside, the sounds of immanent death blaring from within the pit. 

Groaning, Tenko dropped Makoto and Chiaki to the floor as she crumpled down with them. “Jeez... th-that was... brutal... I’ve... never… moved so fast in my whole l-life...” Tenko’s chest heaved up and down as she gasped for oxygen, her face flushed after how hard she pushed herself to escape that death trap with her friends. 

“You were pretty cool though, right Chiaki? You totally saved me and Chiaki. I can’t imagine I wouldn’t have tripped or something if you hadn’t done that.” Makoto placed a hand on Tenko’s shoulder as he smiled down at her after sitting up. Chiaki, however, didn’t reciprocate that praise. She was noticeably deep in thought.

“So… how are we going to… get to that Shadow then…?” Hajime, while not quite as dramatically as Tenko, dropped to the floor too, his breathing heavy and laboured. “That hallway… is a total death trap… we’d never all make it to the end…”

“True,” Makoto added. “How are we supposed to make it through there, AND fight the Shadow afterwards?”

“No… You’re thinking about this all wrong…” Chiaki spoke up, determination layered into her soft voice. No longer did she look so crestfallen. “Think Origami King, not Thousand Year Door.”

“What does that even mean? Are you trying to compare this to your lame ass hobby? No one understood what you just said.” Although Hiyoko’s remark was certainly biting, Hajime had to confess that he really was that clueless as to what Chiaki was talking about too.

Standing from the floor, Chiaki brushed some non-existent dirt from her skirt before raising a finger to her chin. “What I’m trying to say is that not all boss fights have to conform to any one format. Not every battle is about beating up an enemy that is significantly stronger than the generics you’d fought in that area prior. Sometimes, a boss fight is more about using your abilities to find creative solutions to a puzzle that takes the form of an enemy. That’s what this is… I think… Maybe Zelda would’ve been a much easier metaphor to understand…”

“Now really isn’t the time to be indecisive…” Hajime sighed. “But I think I understand what you’re saying. You, well, Usami pulled off something similar last time, right? With Makoto and Pandora.”

Chiaki resolutely nodded. “I’m not sure I’d quite equate that to this… though I suppose the same principles apply. Unfortunately… the only idea I have might not even work…”

“Hey, if it’s the only idea we’ve got, tell us Chiaki! Something is always better than nothing!” Tenko, too, had bounced back from her exhaustion, leaping to her feet, and giving Chiaki an affirming pat on the back.

“… okay. Shadows are a reflection of a person, right? So I think that my Shadow would set up this sort of trap based on my own experiences. And in that case, I think I know how we’d get past it. As long we can counter the obstacles, we can make it through with just enough HP… but…”

“You’re worried about the risk, aren’t you? Because if this goes wrong…” Hajime was sure everyone else was thinking the same thing. If Chiaki’s plan was even slightly off, they’d be killed for sure. In a video game there would be ways around that- resets, revival items- but they didn’t have that luxury.

“… it’s not worth it. You guys don’t need me to have a Persona… I can just help through Usami, it really isn’t a problem if we just give up here-“

“Chiaki. We trust you.” Chiaki fell silent at Hajime’s words, her gaze dropping to her feet. From behind Chiaki, a hand still on her back, Tenko nodded at Hajime, smiling proudly… for some reason.

Silence prevailed for a few tense moments… but Chiaki once again found her voice. “After watching you guys… both today, and in all your battles before, neither Tenko or Hiyoko should be capable of passing through. They’re built like glass cannons, so they likely don’t have the statistical bulk to make it through… Makoto might be able to make it past the moving obstacles, but he would have no counter for the elemental stuff…”

“Which leaves me…” All eyes were now on Hajime, every stare holding something different. Fear and anxiety, proud determination, biting suspicion, a fiery, overwhelming confidence…

“Hajime… during one of your first fights… Usami asked you and Makoto if either of you could use a specific type of magic… but I’ve noticed that you don’t usually use magic in combat, and you didn’t even know you could use it until I asked… This might be a totally off-base guess, but, Hajime, can you use multiple elements of magic? Using the current party as an example, you’ve used wind spells like Hiyoko before; do you think you could use the same fire spells as Tenko? Or the light spells Makoto uses?” It was certainly an odd question, of course Hajime didn’t know the answer, he’d never tried anything like that… or at least, he thought he didn’t know. For as soon as he even remotely thought about it, Hajime landed on an answer he didn’t even know he had.

“I… I think so… maybe…” Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. He could feel Herakles materialising over his head as he thought of the flames he needed to conjure… Hajime held out his hand… and soon felt a new warmth burning in front of him. He… he’d done it… just as Chiaki had thought, he could do it… “Chiaki… how did-“

“That isn’t the important part right now. Right now… Can you do anything more than that? Spells that our other party members don’t have?”

Once again, the answer just… appeared in Hajime’s mind, as if, somehow, he’d always known. “I… Yeah, I think I can…”

“C’mon Hajime, don’t say something so wishy washy now! Take your own advice, and say it with confidence!” Stepping away from Chiaki, Tenko pumped a fist into the air. As much as Tenko’s message was for him… he knew that she really meant he needed to be positive for Chiaki’s sake, she was clearly not fully confident in her own idea, but it was the only one they had. Even though Hajime knew that, if things went wrong here, it was his life on the line, he felt the need to swallow that fear down. Tenko was right- for Chiaki’s sake, as well as his own, this wasn’t the time for weakness.

“Chiaki, this will work. I.. no, we all believe in you. Tell us what I have to do.”

Chiaki was failing to make eye contact anymore. Was… something wrong? “But… I don’t have much else to say… as long as you have the magic to counter elemental obstacles, well… the only thing you can do is dodge the other stuff… I would hardly call this a plan, to be honest…”

“No! It’ll work out!” Makoto’s voice rose to quash Chiaki’s doubts, his cheerful smile adorned with an optimistic glow. “Last time was all spur of the moment, thinking on our feet, and that’s why it didn’t end as cleanly as possible. But this time, there’s no need to rush right in. Hajime, let me use some of my skills to help you. I can help out your defence, and I’m sure I also have a skill to boost your agility as well.” Without missing a beat, Makoto held out his hands towards Hajime, Pandora’s etherial form twirling out of him, and Hajime began to feel an odd blend of power coursing through his body.

Tenko promptly clapped her hands together, as she began to jog lightly on the spot. “Let’s make this a full on team effort! Follow my lead Hajime, let’s get you all limbered up. You need to be as ready as possible for this.” Hajime sighed, shaking his head, though a slight wry smile still appeared on his face as he began to mimic Tenko’s every moment, every knee lift, every stretch. It must’ve been a part of Makoto’s agility boosting spell, but Hajime struggled to not move faster than Tenko was showing him. “Hiyoko! As I said, this is a team effort, how are you gonna help Hajime pull this off?”

Hiyoko had been mostly silent since they’d left the trap, standing off to the side, away from the rest of the group, huffing and pouting to herself. “Tch, I don’t need to give him any support at all.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet Hiyoko! You trust that he’s already capable of doing this. I like your style of verbal encouragement!” Though Tenko clearly didn’t pick up on what Hiyoko actually meant by that, it certainly didn’t fly over Hajime’s head. Although… maybe this was his chance, his chance to prove to Hiyoko that he really was on their side… That he’d help his friends in any way he could- even if that meant risking his life.

“Okay Hajime… I’m done. I’ve given you all the extra power I think you’ll need.” Makoto nodded his head at Hajime. It was the final ‘go ahead’ he’d get… the last chance he had to reconsider… Steadying his breath, Hajime strode forward, eyes fixed on the abyss soon at his feet.

Before he could make his way down though, he felt a small hand grab his arm. He already had a good idea of who that hand belonged to, and the slow turn his head made to face the owner only confirmed that thought of his. Although… the look Chiaki bore wasn’t one of resignation, or fear… something powerful radiated from her soft smile, a quiet, yet noticeable confidence held within. Perhaps not confidence in herself, but rather… “Good luck Hajime… You can do this…”

Hajime took the opportunity to take one last look at his friends before his trial. Makoto flashed a thumbs up, Tenko, arms folded, knowingly nodded at him… and Hiyoko spared him a passing glance before turning away again. This was it… completing this task rested entirely on his shoulders… but his friends believed in him. He knew that for a fact. That was all he needed to push aside any lingering doubts as he hurried down the staircase beneath the statue.

There really wasn’t any time to hesitate anymore. Makoto’s buffs only lasted so long- he already knew that from their prior battle experiences. Hajime simply needed to hope that they would last long enough to get him to the end of the corridor. What he’d do at the end, when he was face to face with Chiaki’s Shadow… he’d just have to battle it alone, with all his might.

It felt almost as if Hajime’s body was running on some sort of autopilot as his feet kicked off from the ground. Before even thinking about the potential danger, his legs had forced him to jump, leaping over a buzz saw that suddenly swung out from the wall as calmly as if he were playing jump rope. The first segment of the floor that would be pushed to the ceiling, crushing anything still on top of it? Smoothly, his body glided over its flat surface before it had even risen halfway up.

Though not all of his movements were perfect- shooting from a few holes in the wall, he was unable to avoid a few darts that lodged themselves into both his arms, a few scraping his legs. They didn’t slow his pace, even if they did force him to wince in pain. Perhaps they had dashed a key part of his inner focus, however, as the next set of blades to swing out of the walls cleanly cut into his legs. That… did cause Hajime to stumble, his momentum lost with the sharp pain running over his body. He hit the floor with an unceremonious thud; if the darts weren’t knocked loose by the impact, the occasional unlucky one was forced to dig deeper into his skin on impact with the floor.

Gritting his teeth, Hajime tried pushing himself to his feet, though his legs were still a little wobbly and he could already feel any defensive benefits vaporising since the pain coursing through his limbs was starting to feel sharper, more distinct and clear to the mind. A violent crackle above his head signalled to Hajime that he needed to move, but his body just wasn’t ready for such swift movement again, not so soon. Bracing himself for impact, Hajime’s eyes glued themselves shut, and he instinctively held his breath… no pain ever came. Instead… he could sense some sort of magic was holding back the electrical current that had threatened to potentially paralyse him here. Never did Hajime look behind him, but he could detect Herakles’ presence without needing to do so. That was what was protecting him, the source of any magic he possessed.

A second wind pulsed through Hajime’s veins. He needed to move once more. Though his motions were notably more sluggish, his body powered on through the building pain. Every encounter with obstacles was far too close though; the spears that crisscrossed out of the walls very nearly impaled him from every angle, the scorching flames that came next flicking cinders at his cheeks and hair; manoeuvring around the spikes in the floor was also a challenge, pushing his mediocre footwork to its limits. Even the next set of crushers came dangerously close to ending his life by painting him as a dull red splatter on the walls… though if they couldn’t bleed in here, maybe it would’ve been more accurate to say he would’ve left a skin coloured splatter instead… 

The final few hurdles were now in sight. Swinging blades. Piston-powered presses. A wall of flames. The icicles that had nearly skewered them at the start… and those were only the ones that he could see. Shaking his head fervently, Hajime internally braced himself for the final push… but… he couldn’t feel the same energy he had at the start… Had all of Makoto’s aid finally abandoned him? If so, he truly was on his own for the final stretch…

With only adrenaline to guide him, Hajime’s final sprint began… though that throbbing pain rushing around his body weakened him with every step. The swinging blades snagged his back. He was lucky this was the virtual world, a real injury like that would have resulted in a deep, wide gash… but that didn’t mean the pain in the NWP wasn’t excruciating. He stumbled onto the platform that was about to be smashed into the metallic ceiling above him… that final slice had drained him completely… he had nothing left to give… In this virtual world, he must’ve looked so pathetic- no outward injuries, and only a dart or two in an arm, and here he was- his body all but ready to give up… “Was… this all I… could manage…? Everyone-“ The platform raised, metal screeching against metal as the pistons pumped the platform up…

…

…

Nothing…

Nothing…?

Confused by the fact that he was still capable of even thinking that, Hajime opened the eyes he hadn’t realised he’d clenched shut. He could still see ahead of him… still see the walls of fire… he could faintly make out the glow of the Shadow at the end. But… what had happened? A simple turn of the head gave Hajime his answer. The same force he’d felt time and time again had protected his life. Herakles, sturdy arms undaunted, firmly held the ceiling piston back, the wheels of his chariot digging into the surface of the platform Hajime was collapsed on, like a pillar supporting the entire foundation of a building. 

Even so, Hajime was well aware that his Persona couldn’t keep it up forever- he couldn’t just lay around gawking. Hajime rolled off of the platform, though his takeoff was perhaps the least agile yet. Still… he had to press on… he was so close… The space between himself and the wall of flames in front of him was far too short to get a good running start, though whether or not one would be necessary, he wasn’t sure. Hajime couldn’t even steady his breath anymore, he simply had to tackle it head on. “Come on… Just do what Tenko would do…” It was difficult to believe that he was looking to Tenko’s recklessness for courage… but her wholehearted self belief was something he really needed as he charged into the flames.

The moment he dove through, a chilly gust swept around him. The sensation that accompanied it was almost identical to the feeling of Herakles using other types of magic, though a tad different. This wasn’t something he’d ever really felt, this cool breeze… Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that though. Another wall of fire erupted in his path. Judging by the intense roar, there was no way this wall was as thin as the one he’d just flown through; his momentum wouldn’t allow him to stop though.

Again, Hajime leapt into the fire, that biting frost hovering around him, keeping his body cool, and the cinders at bay… though the oncoming blaze seemed to never end. Hajime even hit the floor again before they stopped their assault. And while he sprinted through what was left… even the breeze started to subside. The intense heat around him suddenly began to hammer against his skin, searing heat that wouldn’t leave a burn in here… even if it certainly felt like he was being cooked alive.

All of a sudden though… the flames seemed to die down, ever so slightly. They still hurt, a lot, but they weren’t quite so oppressive… for some reason. Hajime wasn’t out of the wall yet… so why…?

The answer didn’t matter. What mattered was the fact that this gave him a new opportunity. As did the fight or flight adrenaline boost that suddenly surged through his veins- his final push.

It was as if the body wide pain he had been a victim of up until then just… vanished.

Time seemed to freeze as Hajime emerged from the other side of the sea of flames. He could see the last two blockades standing between him and the Shadow. Leaping between the platforms of the final piston-powered presses, Hajime reached down to his side- his bat, his weapon of choice, dangling from his jeans was snatched into his hands before he even cleared the crushing platforms. Reeling his arms back, Hajime’s entire body began to spin in the air from the overwhelming momentum he’d managed to accumulate in such a short time. The world around him blurred, likely from the speed he was spinning at; maybe because his body was finally giving in to defeat. Either way, a shrill scream blasted his ear drums alongside the shattering of ice…

Hajime wasn’t sure what had just happened. Quite how he’d made it to the end of that deathtrap of a hallway, nor did he know he’d ended up gripping Chiaki’s Shadow by the collar, his right arm raised, prepared to deal a powerful blow with his weapon… 

He couldn’t bring himself to attack the Shadow…

Perhaps it was because it was visibly trembling, or maybe because its eyes were tightly glued shut, resignation written over its cowering face. Or maybe… maybe it was because it just looked too much like Chiaki. The expression it wore as he held it at arms length… it wasn’t entirely unlike that forlorn look the real Chiaki had worn earlier that day. Was… was that why he-

“Hajime… it’s okay… you can stop now.” That voice… Hajime turned his head mechanically towards the source, his grip on the Shadow becoming more slack by the second.

“B-but… Chiaki… how did-“ Chiaki placed a hand over the one he was using to hold her Shadow. Something about her gentle touch… he knew what she was trying to tell him. Hajime let the Shadow go, and it fell to the floor in a crumpled, panicked heap.

Chiaki lowered herself to her knees, taking her Shadows hands in her own. “Hey hey… it’s going to be okay… Please, don’t be afraid… We… I don’t have a reason to be so scared. Not of the things you claim to be. My friends… I truly believe in them, and they believe in me. I may be wrong, but I don’t think that what we have together is fake. My friends do care about me, about us; it was foolish of me to even consider thinking otherwise. My friends here with me now… and those in my class… no matter what doubts I may have, they are definitely my friends. And yes, I am afraid of what the future may hold for someone with a silly talent like mine… but it’s about time I took action. Wallowing in self pity isn’t good enough anymore. It never was. If I’m going to compare myself to great people like Hiyoko and Hajime… then I need to do more than just idly gawk at them. I want to walk by their sides… so I’ll follow in their footsteps. I want… no, I’m going to make something of myself. I will become a me that I can be proud of. And… you should be proud of yourself as well. You might just be a manifestation of my darkest thoughts, but you’re the one who’s finally forcing me to make a change… Do you think it’s silly that I’m telling myself to be proud?” Chiaki quietly giggled to herself, smiling earnestly at her Shadow.

Chiaki’s Shadow stared into Chiaki’s eyes for what felt like minutes on end after Chiaki’s speech, until a tiny smile finally broke through its nervous frown. Just as all Shadow’s before it, a blue glow enshrouded Chiaki’s Shadow… but it didn’t vanish this time. This time… that glow wrapped itself around Chiaki, gliding up to her head. Chiaki’s fingers dug into her temples, a sharp gasp passing her lips as something began to take shape around her head… something that looked an awful lot like some sort of headset, a VR headset. A black visor dropped down over Chiaki’s closed eyes, a blue bar running around the edges like an electric border. But where a head strap or band would have been, tubes reached out from the side of the headset, leading up into the.. air? Small blue spheres materialised at the entrance to those tubes, the balls flowing into the headset. “H-Hajime-“

Hajime heard his name… though it was muffled beyond belief, like his head was submerged under water. He could see Chiaki’s lips moving… even if she wasn’t facing him. Wait, was she facing him? It… was hard to tell… in fact… it was hard to really understand anything right now…

Hajime could’ve sworn he saw something large floating above Chiaki’s head as his legs gave way, his consciousness slipping away before he could hit the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am unbelievably sorry that this took nearly three weeks to get out. Based on its length, you might’ve been able to tell why it took so long. Seriously, it’s 70000 characters long... 
> 
> On another note, alongside the Priestess section I’ll be adding to the big notes section, I’ll soon be adding something I sort of promised a while ago, basically character stat sheets. You know, with their attacks, weaknesses, the usual stuff from Persona games. There’s a reason I chose to do them now, but that will be revealed next chapter, alongside the piece on Chiaki’s Persona. 
> 
> Fool- Jabberwock Extraction Team: Rank 3  
> Magician- Hiyoko Saionji: Rank 2  
> Priestess- Chiaki Nanami: Rank 1  
> Empress- After School Lessons: Rank 1  
> Hierophant- Angie Yonaga: Rank 4  
> Lovers- Komaru Naegi: Rank 1  
> Chariot- Martial Artists: Rank 4  
> Temperance- Koichi Kizakura: Rank 2  
> Devil- Miu Iruma: Rank 3  
> Star- Makoto Naegi: Rank 3  
> Moon- Chihiro Fujisaki: Rank 2  
> Aeon- Sonia Nevermind: Rank 3  
> Jester- Gundham Tanaka: Rank 3


	49. Chapter 47

Monday, May 27th

A sweet, fragrant scent drifted over Himiko’s nose, stirring her from her deep sleep. It took her a few moments to actually remember where she was- why she was in a rocking chair, why she was facing a fire place, and… why had a coat been placed over her? She couldn’t quite remember that part.

Although, it only took another look at the coat to figure out exactly what had happened. At some point, Shuichi had wrapped her up in one of his school jackets. To keep her warm, she had to guess, since the heater had been turned off.

Without actually getting out of her seat, Himiko craned her head around the chair to try and find Shuichi… and the origin of that wonderful smell. Of course, in a room so small, it only took a couple of seconds to find both. Shuichi was sitting at the edge of his bed, softly blowing at a cup in his hands.

Himiko didn’t say anything… she simply watched him through half lidded eyes. It wasn’t until after Shuichi had begun drinking that he noticed her eyes on him, though he was lucky he didn’t end up staining his white button-up shirt considering how he jolted in surprise upon making eye contact with Himiko. “O-oh, g-good morning Himiko. Did… you sleep well last night? I didn’t hear you wake up…”

“Yeah… I slept just fine…” Himiko would have never told Shuichi, but all she really needed to get to sleep was another person. Just like a child…

“I’m glad to hear that Himiko. At least the storm has passed… it’s not really that bright out today, but the rain has stopped at least…” From his seat on his bed, Shuichi stared out of the window. He was right about the weather, the sky was terribly gloomy, barely a single ray of sunlight peaked through the clouds at all. “Oh, sorry Himiko, would you like a cup of tea? I c-can make you one, if you’d like…”

“Nyeh…” Himiko slowly nodded her head in response. Based on the earlier smell, Shuichi’s tea was probably really sweet; Himiko struggled to say no to sweet things. However, her eyes didn’t follow him as he stood up to make the tea. No… her mind was elsewhere. Stuck on a feeling she’d had last night. What was, in all seriousness, the real reason she’d sought out company for the night.

Himiko supposed it must’ve been her magical senses that alerted her to something… something terrible… It was one of those gut feelings you get when you just know that something terrible was about to happen to you… Then again, that feeling had passed now. Even through the night, Himiko hadn’t been plagued by nightmares or anything of the sort. Spending the night with Shuichi had actually managed to calm her nerves completely. Well, maybe not completely. He’d just helped in stuffing them away.

A thought suddenly rushed into Himiko’s head. A thought that suddenly made the idea of curling up under Shuichi’s jacket forever a very appealing idea. Was there a possibility that coming to Shuichi’s room… might’ve saved her life? What if… what if that murderer came back, and what if they chose her as their next target? Only girls had been killed so far, so what if coming to Shuichi’s room on the boys side of the dorms had saved her from certain death? Was that… the root cause of that feeling she’d had?

No… that was ridiculous… Besides, she had her familiar with her… He may look like a stuffed animal, but she knew he would defend her if the worst should happen…

…

Tenko didn’t have a familiar. Tenko didn’t answer her door last night.

What if…? What if…?!

“Himiko? Are you okay? You look pale…” Shuichi held out a cup of tea to Himiko. A cup of tea that parted the storm darkening her thoughts. Everything was fine. And everything was going to be fine. Tenko would never die, she’s way too strong for that. She was just being paranoid over nothing… a funny feeling in her chest… that was all…

“Nyeh… I’m fine… Just a little cold is all…”

Everything hurt. Every square inch of his body was throbbing in astounding pain. And yet… he knew he was alive. Somehow…

“Oh th-th-thank goodness, you’re a-a-a-awake!” A, somewhat, familiar, stuttering voice roused Hajime from his pain induced unconsciousness. Wait… where was he? 

As his eyes adjusted to the bright light in the room, Hajime soon realised that he was in the nurses office. The fact that he heard Mikan’s voice should’ve probably been a dead giveaway for that though. 

Hajime’s bodily pain only worsened as his consciousness sobered up; it was notably better than when he’d received it though. Now, the pain felt a little more… residual, if no less excruciating. “How… did I…?”

“T-two of your friends brought you to me this morning! They told me that you had a n-n-nasty accident at the dorms… That y-y-you fell down quite a few stairs!” Right… whoever brought him here needed to make up a little lie about how he’d been hurt… Because it didn’t really seem as if he had any obvious external or internal injuries, like Makoto had. “D-don’t worry t-too much, I’ll make sure I report to the Student Council about your fall! They’ll m-m-m-make sure the s-s-safety is improved in the dorms!”

That… really wasn’t something that he was worried about… “Umm… sorry, I don’t remember much about last night… what actually happened to me…? And who brought me here…?” Hajime figured he should probably get some answers about his current condition straight from the source, if possible.

“I-in terms of your injuries… umm… they aren’t at all bad… I-in fact, they’re very similar to the last ones you came to me with, j-j-just some muscle tearing… and b-b-bruising of the sk-skin. This time… they are a little m-m-m-more, umm, i-i-i-intense though…” Mikan fervently shook her head, her very… clumpy… hair waving about in tattered ribbons. “Y-you will likely feel some general bodily pain for a few days… I-I gave one of your friends a bottle of painkillers for you to t-take… i-if you’d like to take them… I-I-I highly recommend that you do…! Umm… I’ll go bring your friends in now…!” Stumbling over her own feet just to reach the door, Mikan rushed outside. Apparently his friends were outside… he imagined he knew who one of them was going to be, but he wasn’t so sure about the other one…

Mikan didn’t return. Hajime could only assume it was because she wanted to give him some privacy with his guests. Both wearing rather dour expressions, Tenko and Chiaki entered the office, quick to be by Hajime’s side.

“It’s good to see that you’re okay.” Hajime fully anticipated a nervous laugh from Tenko to punctuate that… instead she just smiled, a little forlorn. 

“… sorry about last night Hajime.” Chiaki was staring at her feet. Even so, Hajime could clearly see the regret on her face.

“It’s… it’s fine Chiaki. I-it all worked out in the end… right?” His wince didn’t sell that very well.

It wasn’t unexpected; silence fell over the nurses office. That silence made Tenko’s nudges at Chiaki’s arm somewhat audible. Nudges that seemingly perked Chiaki up just a little. “It was… you were…” Chiaki must’ve been looking for the right words to say. Neither Tenko or Hajime tried to interrupt her thought process. And when that process was complete, one of her hands moved to her chest, resting against it as she… smiled. “You were pretty cool Hajime.”

Maybe, under different circumstances, Hajime would’ve internally chided her for taking so long just to say that. Right now though… a warm feeling spread throughout his whole body. Hajime wasn’t certain of the emotion he was feeling, though he knew it wasn’t one he often felt. Pride, perhaps.

“Yeah! You did a great job Hajime. Single handedly defeating one of those Shadows… I might need to discipline you a little for upstaging your leader.” At the very least, Hajime was glad that he could tell Tenko was joking by the good natured laugh that followed her comment. “We can’t stay for long, so we’ll fill you in on everything that happened after you passed out later, alright? All five of us can go out to that cafe we usually do, celebrate your success with a nice dessert party. Sound good?”

“Actually… yeah, that does sound nice.” Not an iota of awkwardness was left in the room. Hajime had to wonder if it had ever been there in the first place. Perhaps that warmth he felt wasn’t to do with him… perhaps it was more like… the warmth of his friends… 

Nah, that was way too cheesy to be true.

Mikan discharged Hajime from the nurses office about halfway through the day. Undoubtably, he was still sore; at least he could walk around though. Mild discomfort was, at least, far better than the potential alternative that may have awaited him last night… 

With the lunch period rolling around, Hajime had been reminded of a little task he needed to complete. That something that Kizakura had put into his head.

To be frank though, visiting Miu whilst he was already in pain may not have been his brightest idea.

As per usual, Miu was working in the back of the tech lab, at her work bench, banging away at a small piece of metal with a… mallet? “Miu? What are you doing?”

Miu’s head slowly tilted up from her ‘work’, a smug grin plastered over her face. Again… as per usual. “Look who’s back again? Drawn here by my wrist technique, huh?!” Hajime didn’t justify that with a response, he just let her boisterous laughter dominate the air. Besides… the thought of Miu coming anywhere near him with any sort of hammer was terrifying, at best. Saying nothing of how violently she was actually moving her hand…

“No Miu…” Hajime sighed. “I wanted to ask you if you could make something for me.”

Although Hajime expected this to be a very tedious affair, to his surprise, Miu didn’t retort him with anything obscene. “Huh? Uhh… sure, I guess. Waddya need?”

“Could you make me… like… a really long… ladder. Like… a rope ladder, or something?” 

Miu’s top lip curled, ready for her to snarl back. “Oh, come the fuck on! You’ve gotta be more specific than that!”

Fine. That was fair enough. Hajime probably should’ve thought up a few more specifics before asking. “Well… I need it to be about four stories tall… and to be portable. Oh, and I need something on it that can clip onto windows, or something like that. So… you know… you could throw the ladder part out of a window, and then attach the ladder to the window so it wouldn’t fall.” Now that Hajime was saying this all out loud… damn did this all sound suspicious. If he always spoke like this, no wonder Hiyoko suspected that he was up to something.

Despite that, Miu didn’t seem to think anything of it. Just like when he asked her to make him that weapon, come to think of it. “Jeez, four stories? Even I’ve never handled that much rope before! Plannin’ on spending some quality bondage time with one of the ripped kids here? Or do ya need that much rope because your fuck buddy is packin’ pounds?!” Hajime should really wear a face mask or something whenever he spoke to Miu. It would prevent him from having to wipe her projectile spit from his face whenever she laughed like that at her own commentary.

“Look… can you do it for me or not?” Hajime folded his arms. He wasn’t really in the mood for the annoying side of Miu.

“Uh, ‘scuse me, o’course I can! Remember, you’re talking to THE gorgeous girl genius. I can make literally anything, let alone somethin’ as basic as that!” Miu dismissively waved her hand at Hajime… dangerously waving around the mallet that she hadn’t actually put down. If only Yasuke were here… she probably wouldn’t do anything like this with him present, and if she did he’d shoot her down so fast she might as well have never even picked up the mallet. Even Chihiro, she seemed to have a bit of sway over Miu too… “BUT! You are gonna have to go grab somethin’ for me, since you’re intent on using up my time. Run down to the art room for me, would ya? I need some new paints. I don’t care when exactly, but drop ‘em off here before the end of the school day, got that? The pink, purple, and blue metal paints, got it? And silver too, if they’ve got it.” A simple and reasonable request… how unexpected.

“Sure thing Miu. I’ll go in a minute. When do you think you can get this done by?”

“Ehhh… Wednesday, at the latest. But the longer you stand around here twiddling your dick, the longer it’s gonna take me to finish! So get goin’!” With that curt… ‘goodbye’, Miu returned to bashing away at the same piece of metal she had been before. That was fine by Hajime; the thing most likely to waste time was Miu talking. She really could go on forever, couldn’t she? Must love the sound of her own voice just that much…

Two people had beaten Hajime to the art room by the time he had arrived. Tenko and Himiko. Tenko was knocking on the door, and Himiko was carrying a small bag of something.

Right… Tenko had mentioned this before. When Angie went into her state of total lockdown, she wasn’t liable to actually respond to anyone or anything.

“Hey Hajime! Fancy seeing you here. Looking for something?” Hajime hadn’t even opened his mouth before Tenko had noticed that he was there. That… was kinda creepy actually.

“Yes, actually. I need to pick up some metal paints for someone. How about you two?”

Himiko raised the bag she was holding, waving it ever so slightly. “Nyeh… food.”

“I can’t believe how stubborn Angie is being though. Ugh, she’s always like this, we just want to check up on her, but she never comes to see us. Usually we just end up having to leave the food by the door and she takes it in whenever she feels like it. I suppose it’s a little different for you though Hajime…” As if that had given Tenko some sort of incredible realisation, she snapped her fingers and pounded on the door again. “ANGIE! CAN WE COME IN! HAJIME NEEDS TO GET SOME PAINTS!”

“Tenko… I don’t think that’s-“ Tenko ignored Hajime’s quiet objection, and carried on slamming her fist against the door. That… poor, poor door. “Tenko, it’s fine. I can just go back and tell the person who needs the paints that they’ll have to wait. Or, I guess I could just go out and try to buy some this evening…”

“Oh, that’s ridiculous Hajime!” Tenko exclaimed. “Angie’s just being selfish at this point. You actually need something in the art room, it’s totally different from us dropping off a snack.”

“Maybe she’ll leave them out when she comes to get the food?” Himiko was probably right. It might mean that Hajime would need to wait a day or so, but so long as he asked Angie for the paints he should get them eventually.

Tenko clearly wasn’t standing for that though. “No, Angie should give them to us now. It’s rude of her to inconvenience someone else out of selfishness.”

“Look, Tenko, it’s okay, have some patience. I’ll drop by here after school and-“ Tenko wasn’t listening. Of course she wasn’t. He should’ve known that before he even opened his mouth. What he wasn’t expecting was the ferocious kick Tenko delivered to the door. 

There was no way she hadn’t just broken the doors; her kick, at the very least, was pretty impressive to have destroyed the lock of these pretty large doors in one blow. “Tenko! Why would you do that?!”

“Oh, it’s fine Hajime, I break stuff all the time. Now you can get your paints, and we can give Angie her snack.” Tenko really didn’t care, did she? She could be such a child sometimes…

“It’s true… she does break a lot of stuff… the school always fixes it…” And it was attitudes like Himiko’s that totally enabled attitudes like Tenko’s. Actually, it was probably way worse in this specific circumstance, considering it was Himiko who was enabling Tenko… Tenko probably thought that Himiko liked that sort of personality.

Hajime simply sighed. The deed was done. What could he really do now? Complain a little more… or actually get those paints. Tenko seemingly made up his mind for him as she stepped into the art room. Odd… there weren’t any lights on. Does Angie work in the dark? Come to think of it, it seemed much more likely that Angie wasn’t ignoring them- she was probably sleeping. To his understanding, she had a ton of work to get done, and she worked fast, so he wasn’t surprised that she was napping in the middle of the afternoon. 

Shaking his head, Hajime walked in after Tenko. Jeez, could one girl be… any more… hasty…

It… felt like it happened so fast. Just like the other time. It happened so quick then as well.

“Ah…!” Hajime heard the sharp intake of air from Tenko. Somewhere, in his head, he knew what would follow. But he wasn’t consciously thinking about that. “AHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

That scream was so loud… While Hajime and Himiko stood silent. Almost as if Tenko was screaming for them.

Why? Why did this happen? How? How could this…

Why was Angie’s paint covered corpse sprawled out over the floor?

Thou hast seen the cruel designs of Fate…

A higher power has sought to interfere with a bond…

The Hierophant Social Link has been broken.

“Yet another unidentifiable cause of death…” Kyoko’s gloved hands flew over the corpse at her feet. The fact that this murder aligned with most of the others came as very little surprise to her. And yet… it’d been quite some time since the last killing. Much longer than the time between the young Kuzuryu and Sato, and Sato and Miaya too. A tiny speck of hope had been brewing in her heart- maybe the killings would have ended with Miaya, and she would only have to solve the mystery of Natsumi and Miaya’s deaths… of course it wasn’t going to be that easy.

“…” Shuichi had remained silent since their arrival on the scene. Kyoko was confident that he hadn’t even looked over the body yet. Though she knew why. Angie Yonaga was one of his classmates. Or had been, at any rate.

If that were to be the case, Kyoko figured that verbally going over her initial thoughts and impressions would be beneficial for her partner just as much as for her. “Even though there is no noticeable cause of death, it seems as if some precaution was taken with the handling of this body. I believe the amount of paint covering her body could not have come from her own art endeavours. Perhaps the paint is covering some wound? No… unlikely. But if it was purposely applied by the killer, it must have some purpose. What that purpose is, I’m unsure, though we will find it.” Shuichi still hadn’t spoken. He didn’t even seem prepared to share any thoughts of his own. Still. “We should’ve taken more precautions. We knew she was to be isolated, and we did nothing to ensure her safety. Is that what’s eating at you Shuichi? Do you blame us for her death?”

“… maybe a little…” Shuichi’s voice was hoarse, Kyoko could practically hear the tears stinging it. He needed time to grieve… even if their job did not allow for that. And that wasn’t even accounting for the pressure they were under to solve this case at large, beyond this one incident.

“Do not blame yourself Shuichi. If you must blame someone, blame me and the killer. I was too focused on the prior victims to even consider another killing while one of the students were vulnerable.” Kyoko brought a hand up to her mouth, a finger lightly rubbing the parting between her lips. “I wonder… is there any relevance to the victim? If you were right Shuichi, Angie Yonaga was not the first Ultimate student targeted. But she was the first to die. What allowed Tenko Chabashira, Hiyoko Saionji, and Mahiru Koizumi to escape with their lives. Ms. Koizumi was even more vulnerable than Ms. Yonaga at the time, and she still survived. Her testimony made it seem as if she wasn’t even attacked.” Kyoko looked back over her shoulder, her piercing gaze aimed directly at Shuichi. It seemed to serve its purpose as he stood dead straight. “Shuichi… we will return here tonight. Until then, we’re going to lock down the art room. No one goes in, or out.”

It was a massive stretch, but after the last affair like this, Makoto had given her that tip-off. Granted, it was too late to act exactly as he had described, since Angie was already dead, though anything was better than nothing. If there was even the smallest chance of them finding a new clue tonight… they had no choice but to take it.

Hajime wasn’t sure what had happened. How he’d ended up in the tech lab. He didn’t remember coming here… then again, all he could actually remember was… that face staring back at him from the floor. The face of someone he knew. Someone he called a friend.

How was he supposed to react?

This was so different to with Sato and Natsumi… he actually knew Angie… he’d spent quite a lot of time with her… 

In the end, he hadn’t seen or spoken to any of his friends that afternoon. He imagined Tenko wasn’t feeling up to it anyway.

Clearly he wasn’t either.

Pain had been permeating his entire being all day… discovering a body had only emphasised his internal suffering… an unfortunately timed gut punch.

Shuichi and Kyoko had met up outside the nurses office just after 11pm. Of course, that had been the first place they had searched, but, this time, nothing was out of the ordinary. Every chemical was correctly stocked, every pill in its correct bottle and with the appropriate number present. Though it wasn’t as if the nurses office was the only spot in the school with chemicals present, it was just much easier to access them here than in the chem lab.

Kyoko was quick to take charge after their first search. “Shuichi, I’m going to return to the art room. While I’m there, I want you to check around the second floor. Don’t stray too far from the stair cases, okay? Keep as close an eye on them as you can, got that?” Of course he got it. Shuichi had a very good idea of why Kyoko wanted him to scope out the stairs. She was trying to set up a potential pincer manoeuvre… just in case. Perhaps there was something else to it as well. Was Kyoko trying to set them up so he wouldn’t need to go to the crime scene? He appreciated the thought, really he did… but he did need to go there at some point…

Never mind. Whilst there were still doubts in his mind, he shouldn’t be at the scene. He’d only get in the way… “Of c-course Kyoko… I understand…”

“Good. Do you have any other questions before we start?” Curt as ever…

“Actually… what’s up with the bowtie?” Shuichi tilted his head slightly as he pointed to the dull red tie around Kyoko’s collar, in place of where he’d expect the orange tie that accompanied her usual outfit outside of school. Come to think of it… it’d been quite a while since Shuichi had seen Kyoko in a school uniform… like a normal school girl, and not a detective. Unlike him; he almost always wore his school uniform. Admittedly though… his uniform was quite similar to his everyday clothes. Kyoko’s clothes were just a symbol of her job, she was a detective first and foremost- that came even before being a student.

Kyoko sighed, though Shuichi was certain he caught a fleeting smile grace her cheeks. One of her gloved hands rose to the bowtie, slightly adjusting it to be perfectly straight. “Hmm? Do you not think it suits me?”

What? Shuichi hadn’t expected to hear something like that from Kyoko of all people… It seemed so silly, so out of place… He could feel the smile cracking on his own face. “Huh…? No, it looks… fine. It suits you… I just didn’t think you’d care about fashion… not at a time like this at least.”

Kyoko didn’t respond after that. As usual, she promptly turned around, and began her march to the third floor. Had she done that to cheer him up? Organised a small visual gag to get his mind off of all the death surrounding them? Maybe… he couldn’t tell. Kyoko was hard to read. Though that went without saying. Whether it was her intention or not… Shuichi had been cheered up a little. 

It wouldn’t last. He knew that for certain. 

Ever since learning of Angie’s murder… some sort of base dread had clouded his heart and cast fog over his mind. Fear. He knew it well… he couldn’t shake the overwhelming anxiety pooling in his gut.

Disappointing though it may have been, Kyoko was hardly surprised that her investigation was turning up very little. Unfortunately, things were only made more difficult because of the fact that the art room had been in use for the past week- she had no idea what might’ve been moved by Angie, the culprit, or even if things had been moved at all.

As with their other investigations, an unknown cause of death meant that it was nigh impossible to look for some types of clue- namely weapons. Though the condition of Angie’s body had raised Kyoko’s suspicions of something that might’ve been used as a weapon… maybe.

Angie’s body had already been removed in order to conduct a proper autopsy, though paint had been left behind around where she’d been laying. Kyoko crouched down over the residual mess on the floor, a cautious finger prodding the dried paint. Without any lights, a visual investigation of something this small wasn’t that easy, but that wasn’t of Kyoko’s greatest concern. Instead, she was interested in the consistency of the paint left behind. 

It was still a little spongy. The paint hadn’t completely dried up yet. Which meant that it was administered somewhat recently. Although… did that matter? Actually, it should. For this paint to have not fully dried… someone must have…

Something small and cold pressed against the back of Kyoko’s skull before she could finish that thought, a soft, yet threatening click ringing loud and clear in the otherwise silent room.

Kyoko knew what it was. She didn’t even have to think about it. Her steady heart began to beat just a little faster.

A gun. A gun was being pressed against the back of her head.

Raising her hands, Kyoko stood from the floor. Surprisingly though… the person holding the weapon was remaining silent. Interesting. It didn’t take a genius to figure that the person behind her was most likely the perpetrator of the recent murders, and yet Kyoko didn’t really fear them. Not here, under these circumstances.

“Nervous? This sort of brazen behaviour doesn’t suit someone as calculated as yourself.” The culprit behind her failed to respond. Of course they did, they couldn’t risk Kyoko hearing and identifying their voice. Which, of course, meant that they had to be someone Kyoko could feasibly find. Someone at the academy. “I know you aren’t going to kill me. You have a method of murder that leaves no noticeable method of detection. I hate to admit it, but you must be brilliant in your own right. And that’s why I’m confident that you aren’t about to shoot me. There would be too much evidence left behind. A bullet can easily be traced back to a gun. And it would be all too easy to trace a gun back to its owner. That gun of yours is rather interesting too. I’m guessing its a hand-gun, right? Now how did you get one of those? I’m sure you already know this, but it is an offence to own a hand-gun. Though after murdering as many people as you have, I doubt that was really on your mind when you pointed that thing at me.” Still no response from the culprit. Not verbal, at least. Kyoko could sense them becoming more tense, their hand shifting slightly, the short barrel against her skull quivering. Perfect. 

In one swift motion, Kyoko ducked to the side, twisting her body to face her attempted assailant. She swung out her left arm, effortlessly swatting the gun out of the grip of their left hand. Left hand… interesting…

But then… something Kyoko hadn’t anticipated happened.

A large, heavy object flew in from her right, smashing into the side of her head. Hard.

Kyoko crumpled to the floor, the right side of her vision now even darker than it had been before. A strong scent of iron filled her nostrils. Kyoko could feel the blood dripping down her forehead.

The sight in her left eye began to wane too. She couldn’t even cast her gaze up to see the face of her attacker. It probably didn’t matter, there was a very low chance of them not covering up their face. 

The footsteps of her attacker swamped her mind. They were close. Close to her. Too close.

This… this was fear. Fear wasn’t an alien concept to her, she’d just never felt it like this before. She must’ve looked pathetic, laying there useless after the confidence with which she’d spoken before.

Is this… what all of their other victims had felt like… before they’d died…?

Shuichi froze.

His head jolted up.

That sound… that sound was unmistakable… a… gunshot… from above him…

Kyoko’s order to protect the second floor suddenly held no meaning. Shuichi bolted up the stairs leading to the third floor.

From the staircase, it was a linear path to the art room Kyoko was supposed to be searching. He couldn’t miss it. He couldn’t possibly miss it…

Shuichi didn’t have to even enter the art room before the repulsively pungent smell wracked his senses. Blood. Blood… B-blood…

Kyoko… was laying in a pool of blood. 

How… could this have happened? And… to Kyoko?

Some sort of instinct must’ve taken over Shuichi’s body after that. He didn’t remember telling himself to move, he just did. Dropping down to Kyoko’s side, he hastily placed a finger to her wrist.

…

A faint pulse pushed back against his weary finger. She was alive. For now at least. Kyoko was loosing blood fast. A simple, cursory glance located two sources of the spilling blood; a head wound, and… a bullet wound in her upper right thigh.

Shuichi felt his mind begin to slowly cloud over… a darkness swallowing his consciousness… He barely even noticed when two more people arrived on the scene. Two people he recognised. One was the head of security, Mr. Sakakura, he believed. And the other…

That boy. That boy who appeared everywhere. Who somehow had a link to every victim, was somehow present at almost every crime scene.

Hajime Hinata...


	50. Chapter 48

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I find myself apologising a lot for my absences, don't I? I know I've been gone for a month after what just be the worst chapter to leave dangling, but I've unfortunately just been too busy to really have this story as my priority. But I'm back on a break, so the next chapter should be out in less than an actual month.

Tuesday, May 28th

There was something wrong. There had to be. 

As Makoto walked through the corridors, a somber and depressive air greeted him at every turn. Certainly, he’d expected a heavy atmosphere after the discovery of another victim the day before, but he felt as if there was something a little more to this than that…

And upon entering his homeroom class, that instinct was only further bombarded by the feeling that something was deeply wrong, even more so than he had anticipated.

Many of his classmates weren’t present; the ones that were wore the most downcast expressions he’d ever seen them wear. Taka was pacing back and forth, his arms folded, hands tightly gripping his biceps. Mondo silently stood in the corner of the room, leaning against the wall, head tilted to the floor. All of the joy that usually bubbled from Sayaka’s essence had dulled into a gloomy depression. Hina too lacked any and all of the usually flourishing energy she usually had. Even the usually stoic and stone-faced Mukuro’s mouth was turned down in a notable frown.

“G-good… morning everyone…?” Makoto nervously whispered. As soon as he did, all eyes in the room darted to him. Fixed onto him… Makoto could sense the abundance of empathy in every stare. “What’s wrong guys…?” Makoto had a feeling he didn’t actually want the answer to that question. And the answer he did get confirmed that fear.

Silence took hold for what felt like hours before that though. Every second blistered with a tense agony that made Makoto want to sprint out of the classroom. Sayaka was the first to step forward. She was the only one who dared, apparently.

“Makoto, didn’t you hear? Kyoko… she…”

A faint beat pulsed through Makoto’s ears. His chest started to rise and fall a little faster. “… what? Wh-what happened?”

“You don’t know…? Last night… she was attacked…”

Makoto’s bag dropped to the ground. His mouth moved… no words came out. 

“Makoto…?” Sayaka’s voice was distorted, like it was being played through a filter. And… she was slowly becoming a little blurrier…

“Is she… okay…?” His legs felt weak. Like jelly. Like they were about to give out at any moment.

Sayaka lightly shook her head. “We don’t know… We’ve heard that she was taken to a local hospital last night-“

If Sayaka had anything else to say Makoto never heard it. It took all of his concentration to not fall over when he turned around. After that though, his body moved on impulse. Before he knew it, he was outside. Warm air blowing against the cold sweat beading on his brow, trickling down his paled cheeks. What was he doing? No, that was obvious- he was going to find Kyoko. He had to know if she was okay. He had to. He needed to know.

The school gates were right there… he didn’t know where he was going exactly… that didn’t matter… it didn’t matter how long it took, he’d check every hospital in Japan if he had to.

Makoto hit something hard before he could leave the school grounds. 

From the floor, Makoto clutched his head. Maybe the collision was what he needed. The world had finally stopped spinning at least.

Mukuro stood over him, her eyes filled with pity. Pity he didn’t need or want. He wasn’t the one it should’ve been aimed at. “Makoto… what are you doing?”

“I’m going to see Kyoko…” Makoto pushed himself up from the ground. As much as he needed the momentary break to bring him back down to reality, he didn’t want to waste a single moment. Any unnecessary second wasted could… it could…

“And how do you plan to do that? You don’t know where she is.” Mukuro folded her arms. What was she doing? Stopping him from going…

“It doesn’t matter. I need to go. I need to see her… Mukuro, do you know where she is?”

“…”

“Mukuro… please…” Makoto’s uninjured hand gripped Mukuro’s shoulder loosely, his cast-bound arm limply hanging at his side, dead weight in his stupor. Desperation peppered his few words.

Mukuro didn’t meet his wavering gaze. Her eyes seemed fixed to the ground. Why? Why wasn’t she…? “Makoto I… fine. I can tell you where to go.”

In the end, Makoto wouldn’t have actually needed to enter any hospital to find Kyoko. Following exactly where Mukuro had directed him, he found her partner sitting on the steps leading into the hospital building. Shuichi Saihara, the other detective that he was actively hiding information from.

“Mr. Naegi…?” Beneath the brim of his cap, Makoto could just about make out a bloodshot eye, tired and weary. Of course he already knew. But if he did, was he there at the time? The time Kyoko was attacked? If he was, why didn’t he help her? Protect her…

Makoto bypassed the formalities of greeting. “Shuichi, about Kyoko… is she okay? Is she… going to be okay…?”

Shuichi tilted his head away from Makoto. “… I don’t know.”

“Wh-what?! What do you mean?” Fear seeped into Makoto’s cry. That wasn’t even remotely what he wanted to hear.

Shuichi was noticeably hesitant to respond. It was hard for Makoto to tell whether or not that it was because he really didn’t know, or if it was something else… “How much do you know?”

“Huh? You mean about last night? N-not much… I only found out anything even happened a little while ago.”

Though he still didn’t turn to face Makoto, Shuichi began to speak, his voice devoid of any real emotion. He sounded just as tired as he looked. “I-I don’t know much about her injuries myself… last night, I… I was just focused on keeping her alive… Right now, she’s in surgery.”

“S-surgery?! What-“

“Shot… Kyoko was shot. The bullet didn’t pass all the way through, so… it’s being removed right now. After that though…” Shuichi’s head dropped, his limited gaze held on the floor.

“T-there’s more…?” Makoto felt his small shoulders quiver. Fear reclaimed his body and mind. 

“Kyoko also suffered a h-head injury… a-again, I don’t know much about it, but… even I could tell it was pretty bad. Kyoko will live, don’t worry about that… Just… be ready for anything… okay Mr. Naegi?” By the time he had finished, Shuichi’s voice was naught but a whimper, cowering from his own words.

Makoto didn’t have a response. How could he have? Kyoko… she…

Shuichi’s meek voice rose above their piercing silence. “You can stay here… if you’d like… I know you two were close… You should be able to see her soon…” Rising from the steps, Shuichi still refused to meet Makoto’s own eyes, favouring a spot off on the horizon. 

“A-aren’t you going to stay as well?”

Shuichi shook his head solemnly. “I can’t… not anymore… I have a job I need to do.” Some soft resolve had returned to Shuichi’s tone; Makoto could tell it was all a front. Wordlessly, Shuichi walked past Makoto… but just as he passed, Shuichi stopped. “Your friend was there last night you know… Hajime Hinata.”

In the span of just a day… he’d seen… he’d seen…!

“Hey.” 

Hajime stiffened as a hand fell onto his shoulder. It was all reflexive really, he knew who the voice belonged to, he just wasn’t ready for, well, anything at the moment.

“Tenko…” 

Hajime hadn’t quite been able to enter the school grounds. Not today. Just looking at the building spurned his mind into action, thinking about what he’d seen the day and night prior… and about what horrors could possibly be awaiting him today. Probably nothing. Possibly something.

When Hajime turned his head to actually face Tenko, he noticed that she wasn’t alone. No, of course she wasn’t, not after yesterday. A despondent Himiko trailed behind Tenko, their hands loosely clasped together. Honestly, it looked more like Tenko was the only one with any grip; Himiko’s fingers hung free, without the slightest hint of tension. And in spite of all that… Tenko was smiling. Greeting him like nothing had happened- not that she knew about last night though. Still, he had anticipated that she’d look more like Himiko than her usual, sprightly self. 

“Morning Hajime.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“You feeling okay?” Why would she ask that? How could she ask that?! How could he possibly be okay?! Hajime clenched his teeth, his palms too. His entire frame trembled. But before he could snap at Tenko, he felt a warm hand in his. A reassuring grip, firm and undeterred. Even Tenko’s hand radiated strength…

Hajime sighed. Any desire he held to say something back to Tenko had vanished. Instead, there was a torrent of new things he needed to say to her. But with Himiko there… it was best to not bring them up. Not yet. “Tenko… could I talk to you later? Alone…?” Hajime’s eyes were fixed on Tenko. She was something to look at that wasn’t painful. Though… Hajime couldn’t entirely dissociate her from the… the art room…

Tenko smiled sadly, tilting her head to the side. “Sure thing. Just… not today. I’m sorry Hajime… I just have my hands full. Heh, literally.” Weakly laughing, Tenko cast her stare back to the girl behind her. Hajime figured that he probably matched Himiko’s vacant, pained expression beat for beat. Hajime had always known her to be very quiet and emotionally detached; Angie’s death had obviously hit her a lot harder than that front could cope with.

Silently, the three of them must have stood outside the gates for several minutes… until a soft chime rang out from within the school. Bing bong, ding dong…

Expectedly, Tenko was the first and only one to have any reaction. “Ack! That was the bell! We’re late! C’mon you two…!” Suddenly, Hajime felt his body lurch forward. Tenko was dragging him and Himiko along behind her. That was just like her, so bold and headstrong. Even after such a tragedy… and the victim was someone that she was close to as well… even then, she could march onward, with the strength of heart to carry on. Hajime was sure she must’ve been hurting, deep down… and yet she was putting on a strong face for Himiko… and himself, apparently. It was inherently unfair that anyone could possess such strength of character as well as Tenko’s compassion. 

Then again… what more could he ask for in a leader?

Chihiro’s tiny frame wobbled about in his chair as Miu relentlessly shook it back and forth. She’d been like this all morning, but at least she’d put down that device she’d been waving around. “Hey hey hey, Cherry-o, you saw them, right? I know you did. What do you think is up with that sad sack of shit?”

Cherry-o, huh? Chihiro hesitated in calling it a new nickname; in fact, it was so similar to the last one that he had to wonder why Miu even bothered changing it. Probably so she only had to say one word… Anyway, that was besides the point. “M-Miu…! H-have some compassion… Hajime… he found a body yesterday… of c-course he’s shaken up… A-aren’t you…?” As best he could while Miu was rocking his chair, Chihiro stared up at Miu, trying to meet her eyes.

Miu dully rolled her eyes, huffing out a frustrated sigh. “Uh, why would I give a shit?”

“Miu!” Chihiro cried, jumping out of his chair. “How can you s-say that?! Th-that girl… she was your classmate… d-do you really care that little…?”

For a brief moment, Miu flinched, folding her arms, staring at a wall. “… so what? Sure, I knew her. It wasn’t as if we were friends though. Do you cry every time you hear about some chumps death on the news?” It was a rhetorical question, Chihiro knew that Miu already had the answer she wanted. Still, she threw a glance over her shoulder. “Right Yasuke? You get what I’m sayin’, don’t cha?”

Immediately, Chihiro slumped back down into his chair. He’d already seen Yasuke today… his glower, the bags under his eyes… he wasn’t in the mood for any antics. 

Up until Miu had addressed him, Yasuke had been furiously scribbling away, Chihiro assumed on some notes regarding the project. That promptly halted when Miu called back to him. Chihiro chose not to look, but he could take a guess as to what look he gave Miu based on her frightened squeal. “… I wouldn’t expect someone like you to have any compassion for the dead anyway.” Gruff and stern, Yasuke’s cold tone crushed Miu’s flippancy in an instant. 

“G-geez, what c-crawled up your ass?” Yasuke returned to his work instead of giving Miu any form of response. Chihiro hoped that Miu would take the hint and stop poking him, though knowing her that was something like a 50-50 chance.

As a failsafe, to make sure Miu didn’t spiral into trouble with Yasuke, Chihrio decided to take some conversational initiative. “S-so anyway Miu… Y-you were telling me about, umm… H-Hajime…?”

“Y-yeah…” Thankfully, Miu took the opportunity he gave her. “You weren’t that far in front of me when we were walkin’ down here, you had to have seen him right? Gettin’ dragged around with that stupid look on his face.”

“… yes, I know. I-I saw them. B-but why are you brining it up? I-it isn’t v-very nice to gossip about one of our f-friends…”

Nervously, Miu tugged on the giant orange bow around her chest, her eyes darting around the room. “Yeah, I-I fuckin’ know that. Friends are supposed to, like, cheer each other up and shit when they’re that down, right? So…”

“Miu…? Are you actually thinking of-“ Miu cut Chihiro off with some self righteous laughter before he could finish verbalising his thoughts.

“What?! No way, I ain’t thinking about that virgin. If he stays all depressed and shit not only are we gonna lose our bodyguard, I’m also gonna lose my test subject! It’s in our best interest to keep that loser around and happy, that’s all.” Considering the sheer amount of sweat running down Miu’s body, Chihiro knew she was lying about her motivations. Though, even without that, he knew what she was really trying to do. Chihiro had full faith that Miu was a much better person than people gave her credit for, and, in an odd way, he sort of admired that part of her. Even if only a little. “Look, I’ve already made him a little somethin’ that he asked me to, and,” Miu playfully slung an arm around Chihiro’s delicate shoulders, tugging his small frame close to her, nearly dragging him off of his seat. “We’re two pretty cute chicks. What guy wouldn’t instantly light up by us payin’ some attention to him. Know what I mean?” Chihiro had never been so close to Miu when she laughed before. It was a uniquely, disgustingly wet experience.

Even so, Chihiro’s cheeks were burning a bright red. For a number of reasons. “M-M-Miu…? I-if y-you’re suggesting we… I-I don’t th-think I w-wanna-“

“Lighten up, I was joking.” Pulling back, Miu lightly ruffled Chihiro’s hair. “Make him something yourself. Who doesn’t like getting free shit? But make it snappy, we’re gonna give it to ‘im tomorrow.”

Chihiro released a shaky sigh of relief. Thank goodness Miu wasn’t actually suggesting what he thought she might’ve been. That would’ve been uncomfortable for everyone involved… again, for a number of reasons…

Putting that matter aside though… a gift for Hajime… Chihiro liked the idea, but would Hajime really want their attention right now? He struggled to believe that Hajime didn’t just see the two of them as an annoyance and a burden on him… Without a doubt, he wouldn’t be able to dissuade Miu. So, in that case… Chihiro desperately hoped that small acts of kindness would get through to Hajime in his current state.

If it hadn’t been for just how desperate Makoto had sounded over the phone, Hajime likely wouldn’t have been up for going to the hospital. A place entrenched in death and hopelessness… It wasn’t somewhere he wanted to be with his current state of mind.

As soon as school had ended for the day, Hajime followed the directions that Makoto had given him during their call at lunch. The hospital was quite local to Hope’s Peak; it meant Hajime spent less time alone with his thoughts.

Hajime knew exactly why Makoto had sounded so distressed… this was about Kyoko. From what Makoto had told him, Kyoko had been admitted into one of the best suites in the hospital. Hope’s Peak likely had something to do with that. 

Though when Hajime entered Kyoko’s hospital room, it didn’t strike him as all that pleasant. Those sterile white walls, the medical equipment swarming her bed… at least the bed itself appeared rather plush and comfy… 

On a lone chair, by Kyoko’s bedside, sat Makoto. His gaze was fixed on the girl confined to the bed in front of him. Seeing him like that… Hajime couldn’t help but remember that one time they were in the Neo World Programme… what Makoto had said about his relationship with Kyoko… 

Hajime felt he had no right to feel the way he did, not while people like Himiko and Makoto were so much closer to these victims. If only he could be like Tenko, a pillar of strength and fortitude… 

Makoto made no effort to address Hajime when he entered. Maybe he didn’t realise that Hajime had even arrived in the first place. “Hey Makoto… Are you okay?” Hajime immediately cringed at his comment. Why would he ask that? Of course Makoto wasn’t okay. Maybe he was just poorly attempting to emulate Tenko.

“Hajime…” Makoto’s head didn’t turn, or even waver, it stayed frozen in place, an uncharacteristically sombre voice drifting from the boy. He didn’t even try to answer Hajime’s insensitive question.

“How is she?” Hajime walked forward, until he was standing behind Makoto. He could fully see Kyoko now. Her face was frightfully pale, an oxygen mask placed over half of it. Kyoko’s breathing was so shallow and light that the only inclination that she was even alive was the slight rise and fall of her chest under the covers. She truly looked awful…

Makoto still didn’t tear his stare from Kyoko’s body, even as he spoke. “The surgery was successful… the doctors removed the bullet… you know, one of the nurses told me something kinda funny… apparently, the bullet was real close to severing some nerve… if it had caused any damage to it, or if even the doctors had, she wouldn’t have been able to walk ever again… they said she… that she was very… lucky…” Hajime was all but positive that Makoto had already been crying. His voice was shaky, his own breaths just as shallow as Kyoko’s.

“W-well… that’s good, isn’t it? It’s a silver lining, ri-“

“They don’t know the extent of the damage her head injury has caused.” It was so blunt. So matter of fact… There wasn’t a moments hesitation before Makoto crushed the positive spin Hajime was trying to provide, weak though it may have been. “They are going to run some tests tonight, but… I’ve been told not to get my hopes up… about Kyoko waking up any time soon…”

Tentatively, Hajime laid a hand on Makoto’s shoulder. If anything, he hoped he could offer some slight comfort to his friend. He just didn’t really know how. And then…

“Hajime… I did this to her…”

“… what?”

For the first time since he’d arrived, Makoto’s head moved. Not to face Hajime though… it simply hung low, ashamed and frightened. “Kyoko went to school last night, didn’t she? That’s where she was attacked… Hajime, she was there because I told her that she could find clues about the case… because I told her that we found Hiyoko there at night… Kyoko only went to school last night because of a lie I told to her!”

“Even so-“

“I don’t care what you say Hajime! I almost killed Kyoko! This is all my fault!”

“…”

“…”

There was no comfort in the silence they found themselves drowning in after that. No comfort… no hope…

“… Hajime?”

“Makoto? What is it…?”

“It’s not enough to just save victims anymore.” At last, Makoto rose from his chair, though his whole form seemed to radiate defeat. “This might be selfish of me… but I don’t care. I want to solve this case.”

Was that even possible? Two Ultimate Detectives were currently on the case, and they hadn’t put a dent into it yet. What could they do? Then again… they did possess information that those two didn’t. Information… that Makoto had wanted to keep from them… so that Kyoko wouldn’t get hurt…

Oh…

Hajime nodded his head, determined eyes locking with Makoto’s. “Okay… yeah, okay. I want to solve this case too. Tenko will stand by you too, I know it, and I’m sure Chiaki will as well. Hiyoko…”

“It’s alright,” Makoto whispered. “She has no obligation to help me do this. The fact that any of you would help me with so selfish a wish as this… I guess… I’m lucky to have you guys as friends…” Solemnly, Makoto looked back at Kyoko. Hajime would have given anything to know what Makoto was thinking in that moment, what he was feeling. He wanted to reassure his friend as best he could…

“Kyoko… she’ll be alright Makoto.”

For the first time all day, when Makoto tilted his head towards Hajime, a smile broke out over his face. It was weak, broken even… but it was there nonetheless. “I know… I know she will. I think that’s the only thing keeping me sane. She’s Kyoko Kirigiri after all. She’d never go down so easily… or without a fight… That’s not the Kyoko that I- that I know.”

Hajime wondered if Makoto was going to say something else, though he supposed he’d never know. Still… whether Makoto knew it or not, Hajime could see strength in the boy. It was a strength that Hajime also knew he didn’t have… it was the same one that Tenko possessed. Or similar, at least. Maybe it was the thing that made Ultimates special made manifest… Regardless of what it really was, Hajime had seen a new side to Makoto in that hospital room. A paradoxically weak, yet strong young man. In the face of one of his darkest despairs, he managed to cling onto a fragment of hope.

One day, Hajime wanted to be like that.

‘You feel like your bond with Makoto has grown deeper...’

The Makoto Naegi Social Link has reached Rank 4.


	51. Chapter 49

Wednesday, May 29th

Due to the current circumstances, holding a team meeting proved to be all but impossible. Generally low morale, alongside one of Tenko’s friends being tethered to her, on top of Shuichi’s ramping suspicions, all came together to provide no chance of decent privacy.

And so, Makoto had taken the executive decision to text out their meeting instead of holding it in person. Maybe they should’ve been doing this from the start whenever they were going to do a meeting in school, so as to not attract attention to themselves. Hindsight, Makoto supposed. 

Makoto: srry 2 drop this on all of u

Makoto: r u all ok with helping me solve this case?

Chiaki: (^_^)b

Hajime: What does that mean?

Chiaki: thumbs ups

Tenko: im in 2!!!!!! i need 2 get revenge 4 angie… Himiko 2…

Makoto: thx u 2 im glad u want 2 hlp as well

Tenko: HIYOKO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tenko: U IN 2??????????????

Hiyoko: (-_-)

Hiyoko: Shut up. I can practically hear you screaming through the text.

Hiyoko: It’s annoying.

Tenko: ACK! srry!!!!

Hajime: I don’t think that’s helping Tenko…

Hajime: Anyway, are you in Hiyoko? If you don’t want to, you don’t have to continue helping us.

Hiyoko: It’s fine. Someone has to be there to save you all from your own stupidity.

Hiyoko: This was all Makoto’s idea though, right? He made this decision by himself?

Chiaki: ?

Makoto: yeh it was all my own idea y do u ask?

Hiyoko: Doesn’t matter. I’ll continue to help you morons anyway.

Chiaki: b4 we sign off can i ask sumthing?

Hajime: What is it Chiaki?

Chiaki: i want 2 go back in2 the NWP

Makoto: y?

Chiaki: i want 2 check sumthing about my persona

Makoto: …

Makoto: i wldn’t normally have a problem with that…

Makoto: but shuichi told me smthin yesterday that makes me nervous

Makoto: he seems to know smthin or at least suspects hajime of smthin

Hajime: Does he? Then acting as a group might not be in our best interests for now.

Hajime: Should I separate from you guys at school for a while?

Chiaki: i dnt tink thats necessary. ill com alone tmrrow. K?

Hajime: As long as we don’t go in too far, I suppose. Tomorrow night then?

Chiaki: (^-^)bb

Hajime: I’m guessing that’s two thumbs up?

Chiaki: YAY! U got it!

Makoto: stay safe u 2

Makoto was undeniably apprehensive about letting those two go off alone, but it was realistically the best bet that they had to move around without being too suspicious. Their group was growing larger, any bigger and they really wouldn’t be able to hide themselves very well. Although… it would obviously be for the best if they didn’t have any more opportunities to recruit more help…

“OI, head up dip shit!”

Miu’s loud voice rang clearly through Hajime’s classroom, almost as loudly as the sound of her hand smacking Hajime’s desk. Just like every other time she’d barged into the Reserve Course, every other head turned towards her, stares of varying emotions all directed her way. Unlike all those other times, Chihiro was standing behind Miu, pressing herself rather closely to Miu’s back.

Her declaration was obviously directed at him, though Hajime was reluctant to just climb out of his seat and get involved in whatever madness Miu had cooked up. He… just wasn’t ready for this sort of thing again. Not yet. But in that same vein, he knew that Miu would drag him out anyway, so Hajime hesitantly acquiesced, those same eyes that had been on Miu now on him too.

“What is it Miu?” Chihiro seemed to flinch at the sound of his voice. Hajime’s tone hadn’t been sharp at all… no, it must’ve been because of how hoarse he sounded instead.

“Well ain’t that a lovely way to talk to your two best buds? C’mon dick cheese, we’ve got some shit for you that you are gonna love! Right Cherry-o?” Miu triumphantly smiled behind her, at Chihiro. Chihiro certainly didn’t seem quite so sure of that. 

“You’ve got what?” In place of a response, Miu grabbed Hajime’s wrist, pulling him up from his seat and out of the classroom. And as soon as he stumbled out, she swung behind him, and started to shove him down the hall, making sure that he didn’t try to break off from her. Miu was… deceptively strong.

By the time the three of them had actually returned to the tech lab, Hajime had started walking unprompted. Things had been uncharacteristically quiet from Miu over the course of the walk down to the lab. Miu being quiet was… highly discomforting. Chihiro hadn’t made much of a sound either. The only thing he’d heard was the occasional conspiring snicker from Miu. Also highly discomforting.

No time was wasted before Miu pushed the door to the lab open, and she bounded on over to her notorious work bench. Similarly, Chihiro scurried over to her own set-up, rooting around amongst her wires and computers. 

“Wh-what is this about you two? What are-“

“Shut it, and just take this!” As soon as Miu returned, she shoved a cylindrical object into Hajime’s arms. It was rather long and deceptively heavy, the sudden weight in his arms drawing a short grunt from Hajime. “There you have it, dork. Exactly what you ordered from me on Monday. I’m sure you’ll find it to be far beyond your measly little expectations!”

“Umm… thanks Miu… but you didn’t have to drag me out of my class for this. I could’ve just come by to pick it up myself…”

“Uhh…” Miu seemed to be at a loss for words, her mouth hanging open as she scratched the side of her head. “Y-yeah, you could’ve done that, sure, but consider this an act of pity from a genius. You looked like a real sad sack’o shit sitting alone in your classroom for lunch. You’re usually out and about doin’ who fuckin’ knows what, so… uh… yeah, you know? Ahh…”

Floundering between trying to be sincere and mixing in her usual bravado, Miu failed to truly get her point across. “Look… Miu, you don’t have to pretend. If you just wanted to get this out of the way-“

“N-no Hajime…! M-M-Miu is b-being sincere. P-please believe her…!” Clutching a laptop to her chest, Chihiro dashed back over, her tone pleading with Hajime to take Miu seriously. And with Chihiro taking that approach… it was hard not to be convinced.

“But… why? Why go out of your way to-“ Again, Hajime was cut off.

“Yesterday… we saw you Hajime. W-we saw how sad you looked… and w-we wanted to cheer y-you up… even if only a little… Actually, it was all Miu’s idea in the first place.” Wearing an earnest smile, Chihiro looked to Miu, who near instantly broke out in a shy blush, physically reeling back.

“H-huh? Don’t tell him that! I-it makes it sound like I give a shit about him… Which I don’t, by the way! I don’t give a shit about you Hajime!” Miu poked an accusatory finger against his chest, the corners of her mouth twitching.

Chihiro softly giggled, turning back to Hajime. “M-Miu asked me to make something for you, t-to cheer you up a little. U-unfortunately, I-I’m not that good with my hands outside of programming… so I couldn’t make you something brand new. I-instead… I w-wanted to show you something…” Chihiro flipped open her laptop, and turned it in her arms so the screen faced Hajime. “S-say hi…”

Looking back at him from the screen was… was a copy of Chihiro? Or at least her face. Smiling like she did. Blinking… what was he looking at exactly? “Umm… hi?” Instinctually, Hajime did as Chihiro had asked, and he immediately felt stupid for talking to a computer. Though to his surprise…

“Hello. How are you today?” The computer responded. In a voice pitch identical to Chihiro’s. It was almost uncanny it was that accurate.

“… what do you think? R-remember that AI I was t-telling you about…? W-well… this is the newest version I-I’ve created… Y-you two are the very first people to see this latest version of Alter Ego.” A certain giddiness carried through Chihiro’s voice, and Hajime knew why. So this was the incredibly advanced AI program he’d been told a little bit about. From first impressions… yeah, this was beyond what he’d expected. Not only did it hear him talking, it responded perfectly. 

“Wow… and this thing is still a work in progress?” Chihiro happily nodded her head. Seeing her so joyful for once… was a little contagious, even if the feeling would pass in no time. 

“I-I know it p-probably w-won’t make you v-very happy… I-I just wanted to show this to you two… as a sign of our friendship.” Chihiro closed her laptop up just as quickly as she’d opened it, hugging it close to her chest again, protectively shielding it with her body. Hajime couldn’t help but smile.

“Don’t worry Chihiro. Thank you. It… did make me a little happier.” Even if it wasn’t for the reason she’d probably have expected. Friendship, huh?

Out of nowhere, Miu slung an arm around Hajime’s shoulder, and did the same for Chihiro, gathering the three of them in something akin to a huddle. “Alright, alright enough of that mushy shit. I’d feel even worse for your sorry ass if we just kicked you out now, so why don’t ‘cha spend lunch here? I’ll dig around Yasuke’s desk for some playing cards, so we can play a game or somethin’? How about it Hajime?”

There was no way Hajime could turn them down, not with those earnest looks both of them were giving him. Regardless of that though… these two had unexpectedly become rather comforting friends for Hajime. Outside of this incident… why else would he spend so much of his free time here? For all the times he complained about Miu and whatever antics she was cooking up that day, he still came back. He enjoyed it. He… enjoyed the company of these two. Just as he’d hoped when he joined them a month ago.

A more calm surprise was waiting for Hajime outside his classroom when his school day ended. Or perhaps it would have been more accurate to call it patient. Both words he usually would not attribute to Tenko.

“Umm… hey? What are you two doing here?” Just as she had been yesterday, Himiko was by Tenko’s side, hanging limply to her hand.

“You said yesterday that you wanted to talk. So today, we’re going to talk.”

“But…” Hajime cast a cautious glance to Himiko. As far as he could tell, the circumstances were exactly the same as yesterday. “Are you sure we should?”

Tenko simply chuckled to herself in response. “Right. I changed my mind a little. Come down to the gym. You know what to wear.” Tenko was already wearing her keikogi… this situation between the two of them was surprisingly familiar…

Before Hajime could give a verbal response, Tenko took off down the hall at a brisk pace, Himiko still trailing behind her. Seemed as if he didn’t have a choice in this matter regardless…

Any match against Tenko stirred up ample anxiety in Hajime, and this time was no different, In fact, it was far worse. No one else was in the gym… It was eerily quiet without anyone else, without the clacking of wooden swords against each other, or the shouts of the burly coach who was usually here. Not even the lights were on. Only the sunlight filtering in through the windows illuminated the gym in any capacity.

Himiko was sat on a bench just off to the side of the mats, much like she had last time. This time though… “Tenko, don’t you want a referee or something? Last time, you said that would be Himiko… I don’t think she’s really going to be up for it.” Granted, she certainly wasn’t ready for it last time either; she was in no condition today whatsoever.

But Tenko shook her head, shooting a stern glare at Hajime. “We don’t need one this time. This isn’t just some exhibition match. Today, we’re going to fight. No holds barred. Both of us are going to go all out!”

In the blink of an eye, Tenko extended herself into a battle stance, the sort she adopted before unloading herself onto Shadow’s. “Wh-what?! Tenko, I- Weren’t we supposed to talk?!”

“We are gonna talk. Aikido conveys feelings far better than any words. That is what you wanted, isn’t it? To talk about your feelings following… Monday. And so do I. So don’t hold anything back!” Kicking off with her back foot, Tenko charged at Hajime like a crazed bull. In am instant, she had reached an unprepared Hajime, her fist reeling back before it stuck out towards his chest. Hajime had no choice other than to go on the defensive. Bringing his arms up to block the strike, he felt Tenko’s fist crash into his arms. Already, he could tell that this Tenko was unlike the one he’d previously sparred with. The power behind this single strike was incredible… but the fact that Hajime had managed to even block it was odd. This must’ve been what Sakura had told him about- Tenko’s fighting style was guided entirely by her emotions. It left her devastatingly powerful, yet very easy to predict, and thus defend against. Assuming your bones didn’t shatter on your first attempt.

Hajime pushed Tenko away with the arms that had stopped her blow, but he had no time to rest. A kick quickly followed, aimed right at his head. Again, Hajime blocked with both of his arms, though the power behind the kick caused him to stumble. Perhaps that was the opportunity Hajime needed. His stumble put some distance between himself and Tenko, enough so that the next kick she sent his way fell just short of its mark. That was his chance…!

As Tenko pulled her extended leg back, Hajime darted forward, a jab of his own aimed at Tenko’s shoulder with the intent to knock her off balance. And… it somehow worked! His attack caught Tenko at the right moment, her one legged stance offered little balance for her, dropping her to the floor. Unlike with Hajime though, she could recover from that sort of mistake very quickly. Before Hajime could try and attack her again, she rolled onto her shoulders, pushing herself up from the floor with her hands with the speed of a rocket, her feet colliding with Hajime’s unguarded chest. The wind was knocked out of his lungs as he was sent flying backwards. 

Hitting the ground, he rolled over himself a couple of times, pain radiating throughout his entire torso, worsened by the graceless tumbling he was taking. Before he could prop himself up, he heard Tenko release a battle cry. He wouldn’t have time to stand, he’d need to roll. And trust where he would end up. Right… trust… trust in his ability.

Without looking up, he trusted in his evasion. Hajime heard Tenko stamp into the ground with such immense power that he could have sworn he felt the ground shake. Was she really going to hit him with that? It sounded deadly! 

After her failed attack, Tenko faltered. She hesitated. Which was the chance for recovery that Hajime needed. His roll had placed him on his rear, which made getting to his feet much easier. Pushing up from the ground with one hand, his other took aim at Tenko’s side. She effortlessly deflected the weak strike, but Hajime followed up with another jab. Tenko swatted it away. Hajime’s first arm swung back around at her shoulder. Tenko caught him by the wrist. She was going to flip him, he knew that.

In a moment of instinctual guidance, Hajime used the momentum of his caught strike to charge Tenko with a shoulder check. Tenko staggered back. There was a moment afterwards where neither of them moved against the other, they locked eyes, both drenched in sweat, their chests heaving. A smirk spread over Tenko’s face… and Hajime felt the same expression form on his own. This fight had let his mind focus entirely on something else for a time… and to put his frustrations and fears into it at the same time. He could tell that the same was true of Tenko too. 

The two of them seemed to strike a silent agreement as their stare-down continued. Both charged at the same time. Hajime abandoned his defensive notions; prepping his arms for his attacks, he forced Tenko out of her offensive standard. Even so, every chop and punch he sent towards Tenko was blocked.

Punch. Block. Jab. Block. Chop. Block. Punch, punch, punch. Block, block, block.

For some reason, during his assault, something in Hajime… changed. Something took over. He reared back and struck at Tenko’s chest. She blocked with her arms, but Hajime tried again. And again. Over and over, in rapid succession, Hajime punched Tenko’s blockade again and again. He didn’t know why, but his endless assault didn’t stop… not until he heard Tenko take a sharp intake of breath.

Her apparent pain sobered his mind. His siege of her defences slowed, the power in his attacks slowly diminishing. And in his last punch… Tenko broke her guard.

Taking advantage of his slowed barrage, Tenko fiercely grasped his wrists. Releasing a guttural cry, she flipped Hajime over her shoulder, dropping Hajime to the ground with a harsh pound.

Hajime couldn’t stand. Not after that. Once again, he’d lost. Though… this time… he didn’t really feel like a loser. A soft laugh rose out of his chest, which soon developed into a friendly chuckle. A laugh that he hadn’t felt the ability to let out for so long, even before the events of the last few days.

A bright grin entered his field of view, sweat rolling over the owners brow. “You… hah… really went hard there Hajime. For someone so lean, you’ve got some real power behind your punches. Those, uh… probably aren’t legal in real aikido fights though.” Tenko offered out a hand to Hajime, a hand he happily took.

“Thanks Tenko… I needed that… It was a nice vent… But did you really pretend to be hurt just to get the upper hand at the end there? That… seems a bit underhanded for a sportswoman.” Tenko sputtered at his playful accusation, her eyes widening in shock. “I guess… neither of us… would be able to emulate that in… actual sporting events…”

“H-hey! Look, Neo Aikido allows for that sort of thing! Plus, this was a fight, not a sparring session. When I said go all out, I meant in every way.” Hajime continued to laugh at Tenko’s exasperation, wiping his sleeve over his damp brow. He really hadn’t expected Tenko to employ any dirty tricks like that. Though it wasn’t as if he’d hold that against her at all. “I’m glad that helped you to vent though. Did… did my message get through to you as well?”

Hajime nodded. Tenko was right- fighting had been a good way to express their emotions. “I think so, yeah.” 

The smile that Tenko had been wearing faltered as she looked up, slowly falling back into a straight line. Hajime turned his head, following her gaze.

Himiko sat despondent, staring off into space. Hajime knew that Tenko wanted to help her, he could feel the frustration she’d felt about it during their fight. She just didn’t know how. Tenko had been putting on a brave face for everyone; it was the only thing she knew that she could do. Tenko just didn’t know what to do to help Himiko. 

Maybe… this was how Hajime could repay Tenko for that brave facade she’d been using…

Upon Hajime’s cautious return to the tech lab that night, he found a clearly tipsy teacher waving at him. “Heeeeeeeeeeey kiddo! How’re ya doin’ bud?” Kizakura’s usual flask was barely being held between his fingers, threatening to drop to the floor at any moment.

Hajime didn’t offer back any such pleasantries. “Mr. Kizakura… What are you doing here like this?” He didn’t particularly feel up to dealing with any drunken ramblings tonight, though… Kizakura might serve to distract him from the potential horrors of the night.

“Ohhhhh, you knooooow… just hangin’ out. Havin’ some fuuuuun, heh-heh-heeeeh…” As soon as Hajime opened up the door to the tech lab, Kizakura barged straight in, immediately wobbling over to Chihiro’s chair. Poor girl… he had to wonder if she was aware that so many people used that thing. Not that he was innocent of that matter himself.

“Mr. Kizakura… you can’t stay here. You need to go home. Do you want me to call a taxi for you or something?” Hajime had definitely been able to tell that Kizakura had a drinking habit through their prior talks, but he’d never seen the teacher this bad. Or even really that drunk at all, come to think of it. Did that mean he’d been drinking even more heavily than usual? Then again… after the past few days, Hajime wasn’t so sure he’d be able to resist the call of alcohol if he were a few years older.

Kizakura carelessly dismissed Hajime’s concerns with a simple wave, dragging himself on Chihiro’s chair across the room, and back to Hajime. “Come on kid, I’mma grown man, I can take care of myself. ‘Sides, you should know, I only come by to chat with yooooouuuuu kiddo.”

Hajime folded his arms, his brow furrowing. He… couldn’t really tell how serious Kizakura was being. “Sir… was there really something you needed to talk to me about?”

An odd silence followed the reasonable question. Within that short span of time, Kizakura seemingly sobered up somehow, leaning forward in the chair, resting his chin in his hands. The fedora he always wore covered his eyes like this, but Hajime could still see the grimace he made. “Kyoko Kirigiri.”

That was his answer. An answer that instantly softened Hajime’s reproach of the teacher. That’s right… Kizakura had previously spoken about her… “Is… she why you’ve been drinking?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Kizakura perked up, looking at Hajime with a beaming smile, pointing finger guns at him. “Bingo, kiddo! Maybe Jin should be payin’ you to be investigatin’ this murdery business, you’ve got some good… uhhhhh… hmmm… oh, right, intuition! Of course…”

“Sir… with all due respect… could you tell me the connection between yourself and Kyoko? You spoke about her before too…” There just had to be a connection of some sort between the two, Hajime was positive of that- it was just a matter of figuring out what that connection was exactly.

Leaning back in the chair, Kizakura regained his more sober composure. “I’m her homeroom teacher. You know, like Chisa, uh, Ms. Yukizome is for Class 77. I’m just worried about her, as her teacher, you know?” That was news to Hajime. Still though…

“Is that it? I don’t want to doubt your connection to your students… but would you really be in this state if that was all it was?”

Silence. Again. Kizakura softly, dryly, laughed. “Nice one kid. Nice one.” For some reason, he slowly began to clap. “Truth is, I’ve known her since before she came to the academy. You should know this already, but I’m good friends with her pops. The two of them have had rough lives… and I’ve been there every step of the way. I guess you could say I’m kinda like her second dad!” Kizakura laughed heartily to himself. For much longer than was natural. He must’ve known that too. When he stopped, his gaze fell, though his grin never did. It wasn’t a joyful grin though. Far from it. “That’s why I’ll never forgive the bastard that hurt her… Even if I have to catch ‘em myself, I’ll give them a piece of my own justice.”

So… there was something a little deeper after all. Once more, any contempt Hajime had for the drunken man that stumbled in here faded into nothingness. While Hajime didn’t believe that drinking was a good way to solve this problem, he at least understood why Kizakura was doing it. Hajime could only imagine how the headmaster was dealing with this… The attack on Kyoko had left its mark on so many lives. Makoto, Headmaster Kirigiri, Mr. Kizakura, himself… he imagined Kyoko’s detective partner and classmates must’ve been rattled as well…

At the very least, Hajime was glad that Kizakura had at least told him that. Maybe it was because he was slightly drunk; even so, Hajime was happy that Kizakura was open with him about it. Somewhat at least. Hajime knew he was starting to understand the teacher just a little bit better…

‘You feel like your bond with... has grown deeper...’

The Koichi Kizakura Social Link has reached Rank 3.


	52. Chapter 50

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I'm sorry I keep taking so long with updates. Especially when I then come out with rather short chapters like this one. If its any silver lining, the next chapter is going to be a little different in terms of character focus, and two chapters after that is the big one I've mentioned before- the one I've been writing and rewriting for forever.

Thursday, May 30th

All of the words on the page seemed to flow together, drawn into a whirlpool of text, figures, and numbers. Never in his life had Shuichi felt so overwhelmed. Of course it was like this though, without Kyoko he… he didn’t…

Shuichi wasn’t certain what file he’d even been reading anymore. The only thing he was aware of was how stiff his fingers were, how white his knuckles were, despite only holding a few sheets of paper. The nails digging into his palms, the erratic beating of his laboured heart. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t get that image out of his mind… of Kyoko…

“With how much you’re crumpling that, you won’t be able to read it soon.” 

Shuichi’s heart nearly leapt out of his chest upon hearing that cold voice. His body, too, nearly jumped- thankfully it didn’t, otherwise he would’ve run the risk of dropping all the files in his hands and lap. Casting his head over his shoulder, Shuichi forced a nervous smile at Maki. And Kaito too, who’d expectedly accompanied her. Though he was surprised Maki was the one to try and start a conversation and not Kaito. “H-hey… you two… Good morning.”

“Aww, c’mon bro, where’s your fire? Your passion? Aren’t you happier to see your best friends?” Kaito’s good natured laugh was stopped short when Maki elbowed him in the ribs, a short grunt replacing his chuckles.

“You could at least try to be a little considerate, idiot.”

“It’s alright Maki,” Shuichi said as he turned his head back to stare down at the documents in his lap. “I think Kaito is trying to be considerate…”

“See? Now that’s my sidekick! He knows what I mean.” Kaito dropped down onto the bench Shuichi had been sitting on, the same bench he’d spent so many mornings as of late, and wrapped his arm around Shuichi’s shoulders. 

Maki simply rolled her eyes, folding her arms as she stood on Shuichi’s other side. “If you can be comforted by this guy, you must be a bigger idiot than I thought.” 

“You know, that didn’t sound all that considerate to me, Maki Roll.” Shuichi was positive that Kaito would’ve looked extremely proud of himself for having a come back for Maki like that, he could tell purely based on Kaito’s tone. Not to mention the huff he heard from Maki a moment later, followed by another laugh from Kaito.

All of a sudden though, the two of them went silent. Although… Shuichi had a pretty good feeling he knew why. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew exactly why they were here… the least he could do was pretend to be a little happy. Instead… he’d just been letting his hat mask his gaze, his limited vision directed towards the floor. 

A hand that definitely didn’t belong to Kaito then placed itself on his shoulder. “Do you need some more time alone Shuichi?”

“What? Of course that’s not what he needs! When times get tough, you should always rely on your friends to help you through.”

Honestly, Shuichi wasn’t sure. Maybe Maki was right, perhaps Kaito was, but they might both have it wrong. Shuichi didn’t know… how could he? How… why..?

Before Shuichi even knew what was happening, he felt a shaky breath leave his quivering lips. A choked sob was quick to follow. He… he was crying… but why? Why now, of all times?

The smaller hand that definitely belonged to Maki shifted down to his back, rubbing gentle circles into it. This must be how she treats children who start crying. Kaito’s arm, still around his shoulders, stiffened a little, the hand reassuringly gripping Shuichi’s upper arm.

What was he supposed to do? How could he move forward? Without Kyoko… what was he? Nothing. A sham. A fraud. He couldn’t do anything without her. He couldn’t solve this case, he couldn’t even save her that night… and because of all his failings, more and more students were being put at risk. This… this was all his fault… 

There wasn’t a thought given to the crucial papers and documents that fluttered to the floor as Shuichi leant forward, burying his red face in his palms, his weak whimpers the only sound that could be heard in the courtyard that morning.

Heavy bags sagged beneath Makoto’s glazed eyes. Cramming for exams didn’t even leave him this tired. Sleep had become rather difficult for him, as of late. Whenever he closed his eyes, the same set of images would flash through his mind. They were, of course, just constructs of an over active imagination… even so, the over powering despair that flooded his ailed mind every time was unbearable.

He’d been visiting Kyoko after school, every day, whiling away the hours in that almost completely silent room until he was told visiting hours were over. That’s how he wanted to think of it anyway. Realistically, it wasn’t anything so casual as that. Makoto… just wanted to be there first when Kyoko woke up. That’s all. 

Makoto’s legs seemed to lock up while he was walking through the corridor. Biting his lip, he leant his shoulder against the wall. He was so pathetic… even just thinking about it all was making his body react like this. How was he supposed to fight if this was how he reacted to his own imagination?

“Hey! That you Makoto?” Somewhere ahead of him, a cheerful, bubbly voice attempted to swat away the gathering dark clouds from his mind. Looking up, he forced a smile.

“Oh, Junko… good morning.” At his greeting, Junko flashed him a toothy grin, a grin so wide it practically covered the whole length of her face. Honestly… for someone in the beauty industry… Junko could certainly make some interesting faces. 

Junko cocked her head to the side, folding her arms and pouting at nothing before she opened her loud mouth. “Damn, you look down, uh, dude. That’s… totes uncool. Need a shoulder to cry on?” Makoto had noticed this about Junko since he’d met her- sometimes it seemed like she really had to think before picking out the word she wanted. And that word would always sound… just not quite right. It felt as if she was doing it on purpose or something. Even so, he could tell her sentiment was genuine.

“Thanks Junko, but I’m okay. Uh, well, I guess I’m not ‘okay’… Sorry, I’m just not looking to talk right now is all. The situation with Kyoko has just really shocked me, that’s all…” Judging by the way she was looking at him, Makoto knew Junko didn’t buy that whole thing for a second. Not that it seemed like she doubted his concern, more so that she could tell there was a little more to it than that.

Unexpectedly though, she didn’t probe him. Instead, she wrapped a pale arm around his shoulders, and pulled him against her. “Aww, lookit you, tryin’ to act all tough. I get it though, your manly pride won’t let ‘cha talk about your feelings.” The arm around his shoulders largely distracted Makoto from what Junko was actually saying. Her grip was so… powerful. He could practically feel the large bicep on the back of his neck. He’d heard from Sayaka that Junko actually did a lot of the same training that Mukuro did for her figure, but he had no idea that she worked out her arms. Turns out they were more identical than even he suspected.

Looking up at the freckled face smiling at him, Makoto couldn’t suppress a soft laugh, breathy as it was. “Wow… you didn’t even have to try in order to see through me, did you?”

“Oh, c’mon, I deal with so many boys that I pretty much know all types inside and out. With all my experience though, it’s waaaaaaaay hotter when a guy shows vulnerability than keeping it bottled up.” Junko playfully poked Makoto’s chest, punctuating her remark with a teasing giggle. It was Junko’s own, unique method of trying to help him manage right now. And he appreciated that. 

There was a moment after that when both of their eyes met. Makoto could’ve sworn that he saw Junko’s cheeks darkening for a moment, but when she jostled his shoulder he lost sight of her blush. “In saying that though, I guess you are more of the cute type Makoto. Almost like my cute little brother or something.”

“Heh… Considering how well you said you know guys, I’m surprised you just said that…” Makoto sighed. Even if he didn’t see Junko in any romantic way, it still hurt a little to be called her brother… and cute too. Not that he expected to rank highly in the eyes of a globally recognised beauty model.

For a brief moment, Junko froze. Her mouth hung open, and Makoto could see the sweat forming on her brow. “U-uhhhh… heh-heh, don’t worry, I was j-just kidding! Ha-ha-ha-ha…! Besides, to be my real brother, you’d have to get with Mukuro. And who could imagine that, huh? Ha-ha-ha… ha-ha… ha…” With that incredibly awkward exchange finished, Junko drew away from Makoto rapidly, slapping him on the back in a manner he assumed should’ve been playful, but almost ended up winding him. Jeez… there was some serious power behind that slap… 

Without another word, or even a goodbye, Junko sped off down the corridor, dashing past Makoto. He looked back over his shoulder for her, but she was already gone. “That… was kinda weird…”

As soon as Mukuro was out of Makoto’s line of sight, she leant back against the wall, sliding down, head in her hands. The burning of her cheeks was so hot that she could practically feel it melting all the makeup off of her face. That was so embarrassing! 

Mukuro had figured that what Makoto needed right now was the more bubbly attitude her Junko facade could bring to his life, not the usual sullen disposition she wore, but she completely ruined it! She’d just wanted to cheer him up, and look what happened! She said so many unnecessary things…! Ugh, what an embarrassment… If the real Junko were here, she’d laugh in Mukuro’s face at how disastrous that cheer up attempt was.

If… if the real Junko… even could be here…

The test of Miu’s ladder went surprisingly well. Then again, Hajime shouldn’t have expected anything short of perfection from the Ultimate Inventor when it came down to actually inventing things. Unreliable as Miu could be, there was no doubt that she was talented. With no hassle at all, the ladder smoothly descended and returned from the window; it didn’t even shake whilst Chiaki was climbing it.

Before the two entered the NWP though, there was something Hajime had to ask. “Uh, Chiaki? What’s up with the backpack?”

Chiaki glanced over her shoulder, almost like she didn’t even realise she was wearing the bright pink drawstring bag. “Hmm? Oh, this thing? It’s cute, isn’t it?”

“That’s… not what I meant…”

Chiaki raised her eyebrows, her lips parting in a small o shape. “Ohhh… I’ll show you what I’ve got in there later. First of all… I want to show you my Persona.” Without another word, Chiaki confidently strode towards the entry screen, climbing into the NWP. Hajime followed close behind, though he still wasn’t entirely sure why Chiaki couldn’t just tell him about all this instead of insisting on showing him…

“Are you ready for this Hajime?” Chiaki’s cheeks flushed with obvious excitement as she dropped her bag onto the sand of the beach. Hajime wasn’t sure why he shouldn’t be ready, this wasn’t his first time seeing a Persona, and Chiaki had already spoken about it often enough that it wasn’t anywhere close to a surprise that she was going to show him her Persona. Still, he wouldn’t say that to her. He couldn’t. Chiaki just looked so excited, like a small puppy wagging its tail- Hajime couldn’t bring himself to say anything that might bring her down in any way.

Hajime gave her a quick nod, and Chiaki returned a determined nod of her own. She took a steady breath, before raising her hands to her chest. “Come…! Guide us Narada!”

Hajime’s memory was quickly jogged by what appeared next. Faintly, he could remember seeing this just before he passed out the last time they were here, when he reached Chiaki’s Shadow, and Chiaki awakened to her Persona. Around her face formed a headset that was vaguely familiar to him, with its blue LED trimmings, black visor… but that wasn’t the full extent of Chiaki’s Persona. Hajime’s memory had only grasped that much of it before. And now he could comprehend the rest of it. Well… sort of.

Levitating above Chiaki was the source of the blue orbs pulsing through the wires leading into the headset. The figure, like all their Persona’s thus far, retained a relatively human shape, though this one was evidently the least complete in that regard. Below the waist, the Persona possessed no discernible shape, and its forearms were not flesh, but tangled vines of wires and cables. Even the human aspects of Narada could hardly be called as such, like Pandora, it lacked many physical features, the incorporeal outline of its body fading between total invisibility and a faint outline. It was as if Hajime was gazing upon something divine, something he couldn’t quite comprehend- or wasn’t allowed to. There were two outliers to this consistent incomparability, however, that being Narada’s eyes and mouth. Its bright yellow eyes gleamed with wisdom, accompanied by a piercing stare that shook Hajime to his core, like his entire being was being analysed, inside and out. They never faded like the rest of the body, the eerie, cat-like eyes were forever present, forever analytical. The mouth was substantially less clear in visage, but it was impossible to miss its constant movement. Some sort of sound was certainly passing over those lips, but Hajime could hardly hear it. Whatever it was… it sent shivers down his spine too, once again like he was witness to something entirely forbidden. 

“I… haven’t seen a Persona that comes with accessories before…” Hajime pulled his attention away from the creature above Chiaki back down to her covered face in an attempt to try and regain a little composure. Not looking at it somehow made it even worse… knowing something was staring at you… with a grin Hajime could only describe as malicious. 

“Accessory?” Chiaki tilted her head in confusion. “Oh, the headset? Actually, that’s the main function of my Persona… I think.”

Now it was Hajime’s turn to give her a confused glance, though he wasn’t convinced she could actually see it. Chiaki was, after all, looking right past him. “You think? What do you mean by that Chiaki?”

“Well…” Chiaki lifted the visor from her face, which seemingly caused Narada’s main body to vanish from sight completely. “From what I can tell, my Persona is entirely support based. Narada does not have any way to attack. Instead,” Chiaki slid her visor back on, which, as expected, caused Narada’s body to reappear. “Whenever I’m wearing this, I can basically open up a menu. When I awakened, I figured out very quickly that I can analyse our party members. For example, right now, I can see your HP, SP, your strengths and weaknesses, and your attacks, as well as your stats.” And off the visor came again, this time vanishing entirely. Chiaki must’ve not needed it anymore. “It seems like he also comes with a basic radar, for enemy scanning. I can’t see specifics on there, but I can check Shadow density across all the islands. And I think I’ll be able to analyse Shadow’s the same way as I can all of you.”

Hajime stood rather dumbfounded. Chiaki’s Persona… kinda put all the others to shame, even if it was creepy as all hell. “Wow… that’s really impressive Chiaki. We’ve had a couple of close calls, so your support will be more than helpful. Now we can actually have someone checking Tenko’s survivability.” Hajime sighed at his own comment. With Chiaki now able to check on everyone on the team, he could only hope they wouldn’t run into more events where Tenko exhausted her Persona, or any other accidents like the one with Makoto’s arm. Hell, he and Tenko likely wouldn’t have been trapped if Chiaki was with them then too.

“Thank you Hajime. But that’s not all I’ve got for you!” Eagerly, Chiaki dropped onto her knees, opening up her bag, and pulling out a couple of sheets of paper, thrusting them up into the air like they were some sort of treasure. She beckoned Hajime over to join her, and when he did she thrust the papers into his hands. “For everyone else’s convenience, I wrote up some character sheets for each of you. Umm… what I could remember anyway. Sorry they aren’t perfect, I could only remember so much, seeing the menu for just a few minutes. It’s why there are no numbers on the stat section, only generalisations.”

Hajime could see Chiaki nervously fiddling with the ends of her sleeves, but he honestly had no idea why. Flicking through the sheets, their contents were very impressive… although the quality of the little doddles of everyone and their Persona’s were… well, Hajime could tell who was who at least. “Chiaki… I… I honestly don’t know what to say. You’re incredible!”

Chiaki’s cheeks flushed red once more from his compliment. “Thank you Hajime. It means a lot that I can be helpful to all of you. And… I’m sorry for calling you in here so suddenly. I know it’s a bit of a pain to come in here unnecessarily.”

While Hajime couldn’t deny that, he didn’t mention it. Instead, he placed a supportive hand on Chiaki’s shoulder. “I don’t mind Chiaki. Getting used to our powers can’t be a bad thing.”

“Right. And who better to listen to about power than the team lancer.” That term again… The last time Chiaki had spoken to him about that, they had been unceremoniously interrupted by a Shadow.

“Hey, Chiaki? We were talking about that before, remember? Could you finish explaining that to me? About the group dynamic?”

“Are you sure? Most people don’t like info dumps…”

“Well… what was our past conversation about your Persona if it wasn’t the same sort of thing?”

Chiaki’s eyes drifted down to the bag in her hands. Her half lidded eyes looked forlorn… “Hajime… was it boring listening to me?”

“Of course not. Please, talk to me. I’d like to hear what you have to say.” The smile Chiaki showed him after he said that almost made Hajime’s heart skip a beat. There was something undeniably adorable about Chiaki…

“Okay then… where to start… Oh, you and Tenko! So, I already kind of went over this, but as the lancer of the group, you are basically second only to Tenko, who fits into the hero archetype. Or leader, sometimes called the protagonist, occasionally even a paragon. That sort of thing.” Well… Tenko certainly had elbowed her way into that position. And she’d apparently fooled Chiaki into believing that she really was the perfect leader. Although, in thinking that, Hajime had been seeing her better qualities shine through as of late. “The hero is really self explanatory, but the lancer is a little more complicated. There are tons of different types, personality wise, but, as I told you before, they all contest the hero in some way. The other three members of the five man band are the big guy, the smart guy, and the heart. Usually, the heart is the really pretty, soft spoken girl in the party, but our heart is Makoto. The heart is the one most in tune with the emotions of every one else, and is the one person we can always count on to find the light in the dark. Ironically enough, Hiyoko is our big guy. After seeing her in battle, she couldn’t be anything else. The big guy is the powerhouse of the team, and personality wise they are usually either the gentle giant type, or the gruff, tough and mean one with a heart of gold. I know most people wouldn’t say Hiyoko has a heart of gold, but I think it fits.” With Chiaki’s interpretations of both Tenko and Hiyoko in mind, Hajime could only deduce that Chiaki was viewing them through very rose tinted lenses. “And finally, that leaves me as the smart guy. Despite the name, the smart guy doesn’t have to really be that smart, they are simply the ones who primarily deal with machines, tech, or support. So… what do you think Hajime? Does that explain our group fairly well?”

“You… spend a lot of time thinking about some very strange things, don’t you?” Hajime lightly chuckled; he wasn’t really sure what to say to Chiaki after that. Her assessments weren’t necessarily wrong… maybe he just couldn’t see them in the same way Chiaki did. Really, it felt like she idolised them a little too much. “Anyway, we best head back now. We don’t want to be jumped by Shadows.”

“Actually… there’s one more thing I want to say Hajime… One thing I want to ask you specifically…” Chiaki had started to play with her sleeves again. Was she nervous? Regardless, Hajime reassuringly smiled at her.

“What is it Chiaki?”

“Umm… I don’t really know how to say this but… there’s a slight problem with my Persona…” Slight? Yeah, the fact that it was absolutely horrifying was certainly a problem. “Because I can constantly see all those menus… well. I… I can’t actually see where I’m walking when Narada is active…”

Hajime stared, blank faced, at Chiaki. Oh… okay, that was a problem. One he probably should’ve anticipated. Earlier, she was looking right past him when they were talking. “Ah… okay, so what-“

“Hajime, can I ask you to continue protecting me when we travel here?” Chiaki bowed her head politely as she made her request, despite the fact that she had cut him off.

Standing back up from the sand, papers still clutched in one hand, Hajime offered his other to Chiaki. “Sure thing Chiaki. You have my word, I will protect you.” A sigh of relief left Chiaki’s mouth as she grabbed Hajime’s hand, pulling herself up from the sand. 

This wasn’t exactly a new responsibility for Hajime, but for some reason, it felt significantly different this time around. 

For once… he was more than okay accepting this responsibility.

‘You feel like your bond with Chiaki has grown deeper...’

The Chiaki Nanami Social Link has reached Rank 2.


	53. Chapter 51

Friday, May 31st

With a quiet groan, Hiyoko’s eyes slowly opened, somewhat prematurely. She couldn’t tell exactly what the time was, obviously, but her body knew that it was way too early for her to be getting out of bed. The absence of a body next to her alerted her as to what had probably woken her up though, before Mahiru even spoke.

“Oh, Hiyoko, you’re up. Sorry, did I wake you?” Mahiru was already dressed for the day ahead… so early in the morning? Why? Whatever the case, Hiyoko sat up, shaking her head as she rubbed at her eyes.

Mahiru seemed to catch on to the fact that that was a lie; her ever so slightly strained smile just screamed ‘sorry’. Not that Hiyoko really needed an apology from Mahiru though. “W-well, either way, I’m heading to school early today. I promised Mikan that I’d help her do some stock checks in the medical office, and I also agreed to talk to the student council for Ibuki. I tried to make you breakfast, but… I wasn’t sure what I could make that you’d like. So instead I just ran down to a local shop to pick up some small things for you.” She was quite quickly running through this apparent checklist of stuff she had to do and had already done. The responsibilities that Mahiru undertook all the time, even so soon after her time shut away, were incredible… Hiyoko knew that it was no secret that she looked up to Mahiru- just about everyone who knew her could tell- and yet, Hiyoko wished that, for once, Mahiru wouldn’t have to deal with it all, with being the sole person to deal with everyones problems.

Through Hiyoko’s internal dialogue Mahiru had continued. “As much as you like sweets, you know they aren’t healthy for you to eat for breakfast. I bought some fruit for you; still sweet, and much more healthy. You don’t have to eat everything, but try and eat at least one banana and one mandarin orange. Oh, and I also left some strawberry milk in your little fridge. I think that’s everything…”

“Mahiru? Why d-“

“I realised that I never really thanked you for letting me stay in your room. The least I can do is start making you breakfast every now and then. Plus, I might be able to make you more adventurous with your food.” So motherly… it really was a blessing and a curse, from Hiyoko’s point of view. 

Folding her arms, Hiyoko childishly pouted. “Hmph… if you wanted to make me something, I would have happily taken miso soup.”

Surprise evidently wrote itself upon Mahiru’s face. “Hmm? I… didn’t know you liked miso soup… In that case, I know what I’ll be making you tomorrow.” Quickly recovering, Mahiru patted Hiyoko’s head as she turned to leave.

With Mahiru’s hand on the door, Hiyoko started to call out “Wait, that’s not what I-“ but Mahiru was already gone. “Uuuuuggggghhhhhh,” Hiyoko whined as she dropped her head back onto her pillow, covering her face with her ocean of hair. “Why can’t I ever say the right stuff to her?” Hiyoko kicked her feet under her covers, disturbing the haven of warmth she’d created during the night. At this point, there really was no point in trying to go back to sleep… and it was ultimately the mature thing to do…

“… I guess I already know why you treat me more like your daughter than your best friend…” Staring at the ceiling above her, Hiyoko sighed. A number of times. She knew she needed to change her behaviour, her mannerisms, almost every thing about herself to get Mahiru to look at her the way she wanted her to. Ideally, Hiyoko had hoped that she’d at least look a little older by now, so the childlike physique she still possessed was downright depressing. Plus, makeup didn’t really seem like a good way around that issue either- Mahiru didn’t wear much, if any makeup, so she clearly wasn’t that interested in it, even if it could help with that whole maturity thing.

That was when Hiyoko’s eyes fell on Mahiru’s uniforms. Just rolling over, she’d spotted a couple of Mahiru’s school shirts hanging on Hiyoko’s folding screen. Hmm…

“Th-thank y-you for a-a-a-a-all your help today, M-Mahiru…!” A strange sense of dread washed over Mahiru whenever she saw Mikan bow- with that girls two left feet, any sort of movement could result in a physical disaster. She couldn’t ever quite shake the image of Mikan bowing so far forward that she ended up planting her face into the floor… Not that Mahiru had ever seen that happen, of course.

“Don’t mention it Mikan. I know you’ve been stressed lately. I hear a lot more students have been coming by with actual injuries.” It did occur to Mahiru that that probably wasn’t a good thing though. Mikan doing her job just meant that people were getting hurt. Still, that had to be better than having most of her patients be students coming to sexually harass her, right? Jeez, the nerve some people have…

“I-it’s not just that… I-I-I-I don’t even know if I can t-trust myself in here anymore…! I t-t-t-turn away for a couple of seconds and something goes missing… o-or maybe I just miscount…”

Mahiru hadn’t heard that before. Things were going missing from the nurses office? To call that suspicious, considering recent events… “I see… So you wanted a second person to check your stock, and that’s why you asked me?”

Mikan hurriedly nodded, inadvertently sending loose tears flying. “Yes… bu-but… thankfully, nothing seemed out of place today… all my medicine stocks were the same as my last check on Wednesday…”

“Well, that’s great, isn’t it?”

Mikan released a sigh so deep that she must’ve been storing it for weeks; knowing Mikan’s usual considerate disposition, Mahiru didn’t doubt that that might’ve been literally true. “It truly is… Now of all times, I can’t afford to be without all the necessities… Hee-hee, maybe Nagito’s luck is rubbing off on me…!”

Speaking of Nagito… “How is he, by the way?” Even if it was Nagito… Mahiru folded her arms, nervously gripping at the fabric of her jacket. 

The momentary excitement that graced Mikan quickly evaporated. Clasping her hands in front of her chest, her eyebrows furrowed into a forlorn, distant expression. “… not so good. A-and I was so confident that he was getting better…! That I-I-I-I was helping him… Something must’ve happened that he isn’t telling me!” Mikan’s hands dove into her hair, pulling, digging into her wavy strands. “If only I had a better understanding of Mr. Matsuda’s research papers…!”

This was bad! Usually, talking about health was a surefire way to clam Mikan down- clearly this was just riling her up more. Quick… what to do… 

“Mikan!” With a short shout, Mahiru jolted forward, lightly gripping one of Mikan’s shoulders with one hand, the other flying to one of her wrists, easing her sweaty hands out of her already abused hair. “Umm… what about the other boy in your care? The, umm… other Lucky Student…?”

The change in subject seemed to calm Mikan down at least somewhat. Her voice was a little hoarse and weepy, though less manic. “M-Makoto? He umm…” Mahiru could feel the arm in her grasp slacken a bit, the tension fading- Mikan really was calming down. “I-I told him he would be out of his cast next week, but…” Now no longer in Mahiru’s grip, Mikan’s hands fell to her chest, pressing her finger tips together, as an excited colour flourished over her features. “I-I’m g-going to surprise him tomorrow. I plan on telling him to stay inside this Sunday, and that a-a-afternoon, I’ll come to his room and remove his cast for him…! I-isn’t that a great idea? Won’t he be excited…?!”

“Not as excited as you are,” Mahiru happily commented under her breath as she grabbed the camera hanging from her shoulder. Really though… that was only, like, a day or two earlier, and she was apparently going to make him lose his free day…

“Waaahhh! Y-you took a picture…? I-I’m sorry that you’ll have to put such an ugly face in your portfolio…” Well… no good moods lasted long for Mikan anyway. Mahiru had known her long enough for that to be a fact burned into her memory.

“Mikan, you looked great, I promise. Your smile is beautiful.” The compliment earned a quiet whine from Mikan, an end result that Mahiru decided she’d be content with for now. After all, she couldn’t dawdle here all day. “Sorry Mikan, I’d love to stay and chat, but I promised Ibuki that I’d talk with the student council for her. And…” Mahiru glanced over at the wall clock. “I’m quickly running out of time before morning registration.”

Mikan tilted her head down in slight disappointment. “Oh… okay… T-take care Mahiru…” 

It did hurt a little to see Mikan dejected over the loss of company, even if there was nothing to be done this time… “Uh, hey, Mikan? Want to have lunch together today? I wanted to finally get together like we used to, us, Hiyoko, and Ibuki. Usual spot and all. Sound good?”

There wasn’t a verbal response, and Mikan did visibly hesitate at first, but she did eventually nod her head in assent. “Great! Then I’ll see you later Mikan.”

With nothing but a simple wave, Mahiru hurried out of the nurses office at a brisk pace. Though… a slight chill ran down her spine. She knew that Mikan had come to the door once she’d left, Mikan always did, and she also always stared into the backs of whoever had just left her. Mahiru was positive that it was out of a sense of longing; that didn’t make it any less eerie to have someone stare daggers into your blind spot.

Mahiru’s fist hesitated at the door to the student council room. “C’mon… just knock… it’s not gonna be a big deal or anything… You’ll be in and out…” Steeling herself, Mahiru took a deep breath before finally knocking.

The door opened inward with quite some force, and then she was greeted by the exact face she was expecting to see. “Ah, hello Ms. Koizumi. Good morning! Have you come to take me up on my offer?”

Mahiru just sighed, grumpily, folding her arms defensively. “Calling me Mahiru is fine Kiyotaka. And no, I’m not here to take the position, I’m here on behalf of the music club.”

The student council president’s shoulders slumped, as did the overly wide smile he’d been wearing. “Oh… I see.” And yet… he quickly bounced back. How very Kiyotaka. “The music club, hmm? How very diligent of you, to come to me not only in person, but on behalf of a club you aren’t even in! A very commendable display of responsibility from you Ms. Mahiru, just what I’d expect from an old student council-“

“Yeah yeah, enough with that. If you think buttering me up is going to make me more likely to rejoin the council, you’re dead wrong!” Before Mahiru knew it, she was glaring at Kiyotaka, her fists firmly planted on her hips as she leant towards him.

Kiyotaka folded very quickly. As he often did when confronted. Jeez… how spineless… “S-sorry. That was not my intention, I was being genuine… In any case, what does the music club need? I hope it isn’t another request for more funding, you know better than anyone that I fairly divide all the available funds between every club.”

“Even the ‘non-educational’ ones?”

“Yes… even those ones.” Everyone know that Kiyotaka was reluctant to aid some of the more outlandish clubs at Hope’s Peak. In that regard, Mahiru did feel sorry for him. There were always ridiculous requests coming in from both the Main and Reserve Courses- many of which were obviously pranks from the Reserve Course students, but if they filled out all the paperwork, Kiyotaka never turned down the creation of a club. Whether it was out of some stupid pride, or stubborn personal belief, Mahiru didn’t really know. It was clear he wasn’t ready to compromise his promises at the very least. If anything, this was another example of the trouble the Reserve Course students were willing to cause; not only do they pester Mikan, they are a huge burden on the student council too. Mahiru was all too familiar with the sorts that made up the student body of the Reserve Course, in spite of the odd exceptions here and there.

“Anyway, the music club has actually requested a bigger venue for the cultural festival. Ideally, they want the use of the gym.”

“The cultural festival? B-but that isn’t until October… and what’s wrong with the current music room as their venue? You must admit, it is quite the large room for only three students…” Mahiru didn’t respond. Her glare only deepened. “O-okay… I’ll discuss it with the other members of the council. You are the first to directly ask, so…”

“Thank you Kiyotaka.” Mahiru unfolded her arms, though her general glower didn’t fade. “That should be all. Goodbye now.”

Before Mahiru could turn to leave, Kiyotaka called out. “Please, wait! Ms. Mahiru, I need to ask you for… some favours…”

“… you already know my answer. It isn’t going to change.” Not with a man so unreliable as him leading the student council. What a paradoxical boy, unflinching in his beliefs, yet he crumples at confrontation. Dependable, yet entirely unreliable. 

“No, that isn’t… isn’t all I want to ask of you. There’s something I want to ask you of regarding two students I know that you are acquainted with… Ms. Sonia Nevermind and Mr. Hajime Hinata…”

As Taka closed the door, a gruff laugh rang out behind him, a firm hand rustling his hair. “Tough luck there bro! That chick really put you through the wringer, huh?”

Taka pressed his forehead against the door, a defeated sigh rising from his chest. “Mondo, please, this is no laughing matter. You know as well as I do that we are struggling to run our wonderful school all by ourselves. Every potential candidate for positions on the council are either busy with other responsibilities, turning us down, or in intensive care!” Taka weakly punched a balled fist into the wooden door in front of him. He hadn’t once anticipated just how frustrating it would be to run the school as student council president… 

During his first year, he’d watched from afar with unending admiration of Mahiru Koizumi, the active student council president during his trial year, and part of last year too. But for some reason unknown to him, not only had she refused to run for the position again during the last election period, she was refusing every offer he made to her to join his new council… She refused to be his vice-president, the treasurer, the secretary… 

While Taka had been happy to allow Mondo to fill the role of vice-president, a decision that certainly raised eyebrows all over the school, no one was willing to take any other position, and those that were simply couldn’t. 

“C’mon bro, it’ll work out. I have faith in you as prez. Plus, there’s that other plan you had… If all goes to shit though, I guess we’ll just hafta haul our own asses through to the next election.”

“An election that will likely have the same result as this one…”

All the business with the student council ended far sooner than Mahiru had expected, much to her own joy and surprise, which had meant that there really wasn’t a need to worry about making it to registration on time. In fact, she still made it there before most of the others in her class. Not that it was a guaranteed eventuality that everyone would show up to begin with. Seriously, how could Hajime, someone who wasn’t even in their class, have a better track record for showing up to registration sessions than Fuyuhiko, or Gundham, or even Ibuki?

Being here so early did bring with it an advantage though, and that was in regards to Kiyotaka’s request. Or, partially, at the very least. 

Sonia… She was the type that you could usually count on for punctuality, probably part of her royal training, or some such. And yet, ever since Monday, Sonia had been absent. Not just from registration either- Sonia was missing from school entirely. Mahiru was sure that Kiyotaka cared more so for her attendance records, but in light of recent events, a deep dread had gradually begun to well-up inside Mahiru. Sonia wasn’t… no, she couldn’t be… could she?

It was probably just because of that paranoia, but there was another absence that tugged at her imagination- Hiyoko didn’t show up. Why? What could cause her to be so late? Surely it was just laziness… or maybe she was bothering Mikan in the nurses office instead? Yes, yes, something like that.

Trying her best to put that out of her mind, just before their registration period was over, there was something Mahiru had to do. Two somethings, in fact. As had quickly become routine, Hajime was sitting in the back of the class with Chiaki, chatting away about something or other. Strange, how quickly Chiaki had opened up to him, it had taken a while for that to happen with anyone else. Maybe Chiaki had simply become a changed person since becoming class representative?

Mahiru didn’t need to announce herself at all before both pairs of eyes looked to her. “Ah, good morning you two. May I talk to you for a moment?”

As expected, Chiaki silently nodded and Hajime took the lead of the conversation. “Uh, yeah, sure. You know, you don’t have to ask permission for that, right?” He chuckled as he said that. It made Mahiru really want to snap at him for saying snide something like that. She didn’t.

“Yes, well… Hajime, the student council has asked me to tell you that they’d like you to come to the student council office some time tomorrow. And no, it isn’t because you’re in trouble for something.” Well, that might not have been true. Mahiru just knew that he was less likely to actually show his face if he thought he was going to get grilled for something. Kiyotaka didn’t tell her what exactly he wanted to speak to Hajime about.

“Oh… okay?” If Hajime had planned to say anything more, Mahiru wasn’t going to let him.

“There’s something else too. You, umm… you’re friends with Sonia, right?”

“I guess so, yeah.” Jeez, could he not answer that with more clarity? It was a very simple yes or no question.

“Then, do you know where she is? She hasn’t come to school all week. It isn’t like her at all…” Mahiru noticed Hajime and Chiaki sending sideways glances to each other. Did… they know something…?

“Sorry Mahiru… we haven’t seen her either…” Chiaki chimed in. Now that was suspicious. Chiaki would never butt in ordinarily. “If we see her, we’ll be sure to tell you. If we even hear anything, you’ll be the first to know.” No, never mind. There was no possible way Chiaki was deceiving her. There wasn’t a single lecherous thing in that smile of hers; being friends with Hiyoko had made her quite adept at seeing through that sort of thing.

“Alright then. Thank you, you two.” With nothing else but a quick nod to the two, Mahiru returned to her seat, to gather her things before heading out to get back to some photography.

The moment Mahiru was out of earshot, Hajime felt Chiaki tug on his sleeve. He knew what she was about to say- he was fearing the same thing. “So soon though? If Sonia has been missing all week, then there was no time between her and Angie being put into the NWP… the killer hasn’t ever acted in that way before…”

“It’s been a whole week too… if that is what happened… we’re probably already too late…”

Hajime shook his head. “No, that can’t be. If she was dead, her body likely would have already been found.”

A moment of silence hovered between the two after that. Until Chiaki proposed an idea. “This evening then, after school, I’ll use Usami. I can use her to monitor the island anyway, so I’ll do a patrol of everywhere I can. If I find something, I’ll call you. If I find nothing, I won’t. Does that sound like a good idea?”

“Yeah… not only is that safer for you, it probably isn’t a good idea to push our luck by coming to school several days in a row…” In spite of recent events, Hajime wasn’t actually too worried. All because of who was in question. Sonia… she just felt too important to be dead, or even in trouble. If she was… he was sure he’d have been summoned to the Velvet Room by now.

“Kya-ha-ha-ha! Oh my- look at you, dressed all smart!” Ibuki’s shrill laughter permeated the air around the little hideaway the four of them used to frequent near enough daily.

As it turned out though, Mahiru found an even greater reason to be concerned for Hiyoko than the paranoia from earlier that day- Hiyoko had come to school in a standard issue uniform. The white button up shirt, brown skirt, and a little ribbon around her collar. No one had ever seen Hiyoko wear anything other than a kimono before, even then, Mahiru had only seen her wearing anything else since they had begun to share a room, so it was hardly a surprise that Ibuki reacted the way she did.

But if her sudden change in attire wasn’t alarming enough, what happened next sent red flags waving in all of their minds- Mahiru, Ibuki, and Mikan’s. Hiyoko walked over to Mahiru, sat down next to her, and said “Thanks,” to Ibuki. Which notably caught Ibuki off guard as she started choking on the handful of jellybeans she’d rammed into her mouth.

Mikan understandably flew into a panic over Ibuki, which left Mahiru to face Hiyoko alone. “Ah… good afternoon Hiyoko. I’m glad you came to have lunch with us.” Why was this so awkward? “Uh, is this why you were late this morning?” No, that was stupid, why would-

“Yeah. I was really struggling to tie the ribbon. Got there in the end though!” How… straightforward… Oh no, something was wrong, terribly wrong! Yesterday, Hiyoko was totally normal, so what…? Wait, she was acting kind of off this morning, wasn’t she. But that really didn’t clear anything up for her… Hiyoko interrupted her train of though. “Why? Do you… not like it?”

There was something in Hiyoko’s voice too, in her mannerisms that were just… so wrong. She didn’t pout like usual when she said that, nor was she on the verge of fake tears. It was almost as if… she just asked a genuine question expecting a genuine answer. “Oh, no, it was just a surprise, that’s all. I, uh, WE, were all a bit taken aback, that’s all.”

“Mm-hmm,” Mikan nodded, having sufficiently patted Ibuki’s back enough times for her to stop choking. “B-b-b-but I th-think you look very g-good in uniform. V-very smart.” On reflex, once she was done, Mikan recoiled… but…

“Thanks for the compliment Mikan. I messed up a bit though, I didn’t put the jacket on with it. I guess I jumped the gun a little on getting into summer uniform.” Admitting to a mistake? Not saying something sharp to Mikan? This was a joke, right? This… this wasn’t Hiyoko. Mikan must’ve been thinking the same thing, since she was tearing up. She must’ve been concerned-

“H-H-H-H-Hiyoko…! Th-that was so… You just… just th-thanked…thanked me! You’re so kind!” Or… not.

Trust Ibuki to not sit quietly on something though. “Wait wait wait, did Ibuki wake up in an alternate universe today? Hiyoko’s actin’ all kinds of crazy. Are you alright? Did ya eat some bad mushrooms or something? Do you have a fever? Lemme jus’,” Ibuki reached over and pressed her hand to Hiyoko’s forehead; a miracle in and of itself that Hiyoko let her touch her. “N-nope, all good… Oh, is it Opposite Day? Nah, couldn’t be, Mahiru never forgets a date, and she’s still totally normal.” 

“Mahiru isn’t normal, she’s mature.” For a fraction of a second, Mahiru and Ibuki were sure that they saw some sort of twitch flash across Hiyoko’s face as she said that. A thankfully familiar, aggressive twitch. “As the oldest student at school, it’s her duty to be a role model for… all other students…” Hiyoko noticeably strained herself to not say something else there, that was obvious.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that this conversation seemed to be bringing the real Hiyoko back out, Mahiru wasn’t so interested in having a discussion basically calling her old. “To be fair, I’m not actually the oldest student at school. Remember, there is a boy in the class below us who’s in his twenties, so-“

Hiyoko scoffed, her face twisting in the same way it did whenever she was abjectly disgusted. “Ugh, gross, that guy is no where close to being a good enough role model for the school. I could never respect that preschool dropout!”

Ibuki rocked back in her seat, belting out a loud laugh. “Kyaaaaaa-ha-ha-ha! There’s our little kitten’s claws!”

“Only ‘cause you started it…” Hiyoko folded her arms and slumped forward a little, glaring straight ahead at nothing in particular.

Perhaps those that didn’t know Hiyoko that well wouldn’t have noticed, but Mahiru and Ibuki immediately picked up on the fact that Hiyoko was still acting weird. Despite the perfect priming for her to start sulking, Hiyoko was just sort of… angry instead. No pouting, no crocodile tears, no exclmatives… Mahiru looked to Ibuki, only to find that she’d had the same thought. They exchanged a a silent question as their gazes locked, soon falling back into their seating positions from before Hiyoko showed up.

Yes… something was wrong. Very wrong. And it didn’t seem to be something so superficial as having a bad day or something. Hiyoko was undeniably troubled… and Mahiru was all but certain Hiyoko wasn’t willing to talk about it with her either. Or Ibuki, or Mikan too. She had to get it out of Hiyoko though, somehow. Hiyoko was the type to suffer in silence, so there really was no alternative but to force it.

The only question was… how?

Upon opening the classroom door, Hajime was rather surprised to only find Chisa inside. Something she picked up on immediately, or so it seemed. “Good afternoon Hajime, come on and sit down. Mahiru will be joining us soon, she’s just finishing up a photo shoot right now.”

“Uh, we can’t really start then, can we? These are mainly for her…” Hajime muttered as he sat down at one of the front desks. 

Chisa enthusiastically nodded, walking over to Hajime’s desk as she did. “Correct, so while we wait I wanted to do something different.” Chisa grabbed one of the chairs from the front row, and placed it in front of Hajime’s desk. 

“… Something different?”

“Oh, come on Hajime, I have eyes! And I like to think that I’m pretty in tune with the emotions of others.” Concern was layered throughout every word she spoke, her eyes filled with empathy. Hajime had a pretty good idea now of what she meant. “I’m not surprised… You’ve already had quite a tough final year, haven’t you?”

Hajime hadn’t really come mentally equipped for this impromptu counselling session. He’d been trying to just forget about everything he’d seen so far. Angie, Miaya… the news of Natsumi and Sato… 

“… yeah…” 

It was all Hajime could muster the strength to say. The tightness in his chest was suffocating, oppressive, a grim reminder of all the horrors of the past few months… But something chased that darkness away. Miraculously.

A warm hand lightly pressed itself into the top of his head, slowly patting. Hajime hadn’t really noticed that he’d turned his gaze down towards his desk- nowadays, he felt like he had his head down so often that it felt normal- so when he looked up, he didn’t expect to so quickly be wrapped in a comforting warmth. 

How… how could Chisa manage that so easily? Just feeling her concern, her empathy, was soothing. It felt… almost maternal. “Don’t just suffer in silence Hajime. When your burdens feel too heavy to bear alone, allow others to lighten that load for you. I know it isn’t very ‘manly’, but it is good to talk about what you’re feeling. Just looking glum everyday, without reaching out to anyone, isn’t going to help you.”

Chisa was right… uncomfortably right. Maybe that session with Tenko wasn’t enough. Or, no… it would have been enough if he was willing to let Tenko see everything, to feel everything. Tenko was struggling through enough herself, he didn’t want to pile anything else on top of that. But wasn’t that also a betrayal of what he’d felt from Tenko that day too?

Even as Chisa retreated, Hajime could still feel her caring aura around him. It was truly incredible to him that someone could hold so much compassion in their heart for a relative stranger. “What I mean to say to you is, talk to someone about your issues. I’ve seen you and Chiaki together in the mornings, I know, and I’m sure you do as well, that she will happily listen to anything her friends have to say. But, if you’re a little too shy to be vulnerable around a girl your age, I’m here too. I’ve made it my duty to take good care of my students after all.”

As Chisa gave him a spirited thumbs up, Hajime couldn’t restrain his own smile. It felt… quite nice to have a mature figure in his life. And he couldn’t deny the happily nervous butterflies he felt at being recognised as the student of a teacher in the Main Course. “Thank you Ms… Chisa. I appreciate your offer… It means a lot.”

“Hey, it’s not just an offer, it’s a promise. So you better keep up your end of it too. None of that ‘oh, but I don’t want to bother anyone’ crap, alright? If you need to get something off your chest, do it, alright?” Hajime nodded at the confident, yet pleasant, smirk that followed Chisa’s declaration. A promise, huh…?

Yeah… a promise.

‘You feel like your bond with Chisa has grown deeper...’

The After School Lesson Social Link has reached Rank 2.

Before Hajime could even finish that thought, he was suddenly alarmed by a single clicking sound. Apparently his alarm was noticeable, since Chisa broke out in friendly laughter. “Hey, there’s our girl! Take a seat Mahiru, and I’ll get us set up for this lesson.” Once again, Mahiru had silently stolen a picture of him… he hadn’t ever heard her come in. Wait, how much of that conversation did she hear?!

Whatever the case was, Mahiru, evidently, wasn’t about to discuss it. No, she clearly had a different motive in turning to talk to him once she’d sat down. It was quite obvious from how fidgety she was that she was nervous, which in turn made Hajime himself quite unnerved. After all, Mahiru didn’t seem like a very flappable person, from what admittedly little he knew of her. “Hey, Hajime? Remember in our last session together, I asked you about Hiyoko? Umm… have you learnt anything? Anything at all?”

Oh, right, that. That had been around the time Hiyoko had implied that she thought that he was the murderer, which had sort of impeded any progress he might’ve made there. Not that he could tell Mahiru that that was the reason. “Sorry… I haven’t really spoken to her at all recently. Is it something urgent?”

Mahiru drummed her finger tips against the top of the desk, chewing slightly on her bottom lip. “It’s… I think she’s hiding something from me. And her other friends. Hiyoko just isn’t the sort to be open about things, and I’m just not perceptive enough to really get to the heart of her issue with what little I have to go on…”

Wow… if that wasn’t just about the most appropriately timed moment to bring up someone with an issue like that. Hajime was on the verge of recommending Chisa as an option, but decided against that. He highly doubted Hiyoko was going to just talk willingly to someone if she wasn’t even being open with Mahiru. He was well aware of how attached Hiyoko was to her after all.

Hmm… wait a minute… “Actually… if you don’t mind hearing me out once this lesson is over, I have an idea that might help you…”


	54. Chapter 52

Saturday, June 1st

What better time to visit the student council room than the very beginning of the day? Actually, all things considered, for Hajime, there probably were much better times to do this. He was sure that his tired face was exactly what the President and the other members wanted to see first thing. What a great first impression he was about to make…

“Hello…” Hajime called as he softly knocked on the door. Before he even managed to knock three times though, the door suddenly flew open, and Hajime was greeted by the wide grin of the Student Council President. 

“Oh! Mr. Hinata! It isn’t even registration yet, what punctuality you have! A very important quality for any upstanding member of society, ha-ha-ha!” Kiyotaka, or Mr. Ishimaru, evidently proved to be Hajime’s exact opposite in the mornings. He was bright, energetic, and radiated motivation. Must’ve been those sorts of qualities that got him elected.

“Or he just wanted to get this over and done with.” A gruff laugh echoed from deeper in the office; it must’ve belonged to the guy Hajime met when he’d last come here with Chihiro. Damn, even his voice, without the intimidating image of the man attached to it, sent a chill down his spine.

“Mondo,” Kiyotaka called as he turned back into the office. “I’m sure that is not the case.” Those enormous eyebrows of Kiyotaka’s furrowed into an expression far more aggressive than was warranted, especially for his fairly calm tone of voice. “Uh, please, Mr. Hinata, come in. I’m sure Ms. Koizumi told you that I would like to talk to you about something.”

Gulping down any hesitation in his heart, Hajime followed Kiyotaka inside, where the President immediately took a few grand steps forward, before spinning on his heel in a spectacularly militant fashion, and bowing at a perfect, nigh impossible, ninety degree angle. “Please, accept my most humble and sincerest of apologies!” Kiyotaka cried.

Hajime was already at a complete loss. “I-I’m sorry, what are-“ was all he could manage to stutter in his confusion before another member of the student council, the one he had heard earlier, joined them.

“Don’t mind my bro, he’s just the kinda dude who overreacts over shit like this.” The large guy grinned, nodding at Hajime. “Hey, uh, I dunno if I ever told ya my name. It’s Mondo Owada. But I already know your name. Hajime, right?”

“Mondo!” Kiyotaka raised himself from his bow, with… a torrent of tears streaming down his face. “This is a matter of… of…!”

Mondo roared a hearty laugh, wrapping his arm around Kiyotaka’s shoulder. “Yeah yeah, some shit ‘bout great importance, or somethin’.”

Still left entirely in the dark, Hajime looked between the two members of the student council. “So what is this about? I still have no idea why I’m here.” All he could glean was that whatever this was, it was, in fact, of ‘great importance’. Very enlightening…

Kiyotaka quickly opened his mouth, though Mondo just as quickly intervened. “Lemme take this one bro, it’ll be much more to the point that way.” Releasing Kiyotaka from his hold, Mondo scratched the back of his head, surprisingly sheepishly for a guy who looked like him. “See… We know things haven’t been particularly, uh, good for ya recently. Not only have ya been stuck on that night job, but all this crazy shit seems to happen when you’re on that shitty job. And the two of us just wanted to apologise ‘cuz… well we were the ones who suggested to the school that they should get a guard for that big tech project. So, in a way, we-“

“We are entirely responsible for all of the suffering you have endured! We both offer our most sincere apologies!” Apparently, Kiyotaka couldn’t holdvhis tongue any longer. At the very least, Hajime understood what this was all about now. Although…

Hajime shook his head. “No… no it isn’t. I took the job myself, neither of you forced me. Besides… the real one at fault is whoever is-“ Hajime caught himself just before he said something too revealing. “M-murdering other students…”

“It’s a disgrace… Not only that someone would dare to taint these hallowed halls, the fact that not a single action has been taken to protect our students is…!” Kiyotaka’s face burned a bright red. It sort of looked as if he got any more wound up, he’d pop a blood vessel. Hajime did agree though, even if he sort of understood why no drastic action was being taken. Obviously, the murders were being kept under wraps, left entirely to the detective duo and a small section of the police. Taking further noticeable action would undoubtedly attract media attention- attention Hope’s Peak of all places really didn’t need. It was tantamount to admitting to the public that there was a problem in one of the most prestigious schools in the world, there was no telling what consequences that might have… 

That didn’t make those actions right. It sounded to Hajime like Kiyotaka agreed.

“Sorry we can’t offer ya any protection, dude,” Mondo continued. “My bro did have something else to offer ya though.”

“Hmm?” An offer? Hajime couldn’t really imagine what that might’ve been…

Kiyotaka nodded, bowing once more. “We know you have many responsibilities already, as both a third year student, and those that have been dropped onto your lap recently, but I would like to request your aid.” Kiyotaka rose, wearing a determined, charismatic smile aimed directly Hajime. “Would you like to join the student council?”

Hajime blinked a couple of times. “… what?”

“Didn’t ya hear?” Mondo said with a smile not unlike Kiyotaka’s. “We’re askin’ if you wanna join the student council, dude!” In direct contrast to his President’s stiffness, Mondo was incredibly casual, not only with his loose tongue, but also in his easygoing mannerisms.

“N-no, I heard, I just don’t really understand. Why would you want me? I’m just some Reserve-“

Kiyotaka dramatically pointed a finger at Hajime’s dumbfounded face. “On the contrary, Mr. Hajime Hinata, I believe you are an exemplary student, one who deserves a position on the esteemed council! I’ve seen your school record- even after all this nastiness, you have managed to maintain a very high standard of work. Additionally, unlike most other students, you interact with both the Main and Reserve Courses; the insight you could provide into school life and how we can improve it is better than almost anyone else! Please, at least consider our offer.”  
This was an incredible offer… and one Hajime should have been honoured to receive. Unlike almost anything else he’d done recently, he also didn’t feel like these two wanted to pressure him into doing this either. Surely if he was, Mondo would be… well, doing something other than smiling good-naturedly. “I… I suppose I can try.”

Curiously, Kiyotaka’s shoulders slumped forward, a downcast expression coating his entire body. “Ah, yes, I suppose that’s to be expected. Thank you for… Wait, did you say yes?”

“… yes?”

Pumping his fists into the air, Kiyotaka, with all the energy of a child on a sugar rush, high-fived Mondo, shouting with obvious joy. “Ah, thank you Mr. Hinata! You have no idea how much of a relief it is that you are willing to join!”

Noticing Hajime’s obvious confusion, Mondo spoke to him. “We aren’t all that popular. It’s pretty lame, but we’ve been runnin’ a two man deal for nearly a year now.”

“Wait… You two are the only ones on the student council?” Kiyotaka didn’t really respond, though the sweat beading on his brow was clear as day. Mondo, too, stood silent, rubbing the back of his neck. “Oh… Really? Really?!”

Kiyotaka shook his head, suddenly and violently. “That is something we can discuss another time. Thanks to that though, we have become rather skilled at running the council, if I do say so myself, so we will not need you to attend every day. You are of course welcome in here whenever you’d like, the only times you need to attend are days we hold meeting, but we will come and get you for those. You will start next week, where we will discuss your new position, I hope that is acceptable, Mr. Hinata.” Mondo lightly swatted the back of Kiyotaka’s head. “Oh, right. As a fellow member of the student council, I needn’t be so formal. I hope our time working together is fruitful, Hajime.” Kiyotaka held out a hand for Hajime. “And please, in return, call me Taka.”

Looking between the two boys smiling at him, Hajime nodded, taking the strong hand in his own. “Thank you for the opportunity Taka. It’s my pleasure to be working with you two.”

Another odd situation for him to have found himself in, that was for certain. Yet, this one felt wholly different than most of the others. It finally dawned on him as he shook Mondo’s own hand- this pair radiated a strong brotherhood, one Hajime was being happily welcomed into. He sincerely hoped he would enjoy it.

Thou art I... And I am thou... Thou hast established a new bond... 

It brings to thee a new hope...

Thou hast been blessed by the Emperor Arcana...

Upon entering Class 77’s homeroom, Hajime’s eyes immediately darted to Chiaki, who was frantically beckoning him over to her. As if he didn’t already sit next to her or something.

“What is it Chiaki?” He said with curiosity as he sat down with her. He would have guessed that it might’ve had something to do with her little investigation into the NWP last night, but she didn’t give him a call like she’d promised, so that couldn’t be it…

Pulling the little handheld console that controlled Usami out of her bag, Chiaki poked it into Hajime’s leg underneath their desks. “Hajime… last night… Umm… just try touching the screen.”

Cryptic commands, and a very covert handing over of the console… Hajime had a feeling Chiaki was just trying to be dramatic about it all; that didn’t mean that it wasn’t a little off-putting seeing her act so out of character. Even so, Hajime silently followed her direction, taking the console under the desk, and placing his finger on the single screen.

He immediately knew what had shaken Chiaki.

It was just like that big screen in the tech lab… Hajime’s finger sank right into the screen, the same ripples radiating from his entry point… Exactly like the entrance to the NWP! The only issue was… why?

“Excuse me, Hajime?”

That wasn’t Chiaki’s voice. Hajime stiffened in his seat, a ghastly pallor settling upon his countenance. He pulled his finger out, and pressed the console back into Chiaki’s hand, which was still waiting under the desk. “Y-yes Mahiru?”

Mahiru obviously noticed something was going on, figures she’d have a good eye, even if she had no idea what. “What are… No, never mind,” Mahiru said as she shook her head, her hand rising to cover her mouth. It was pretty clear that she was avoiding eye contact too. Just what did she think they were doing?! “L-look, Hajime, I just wanted to tell you that I did everything you asked me to. Are you sure this is going to work though? Isn’t Hiyoko just going to get mad?”

Clearing his throat, trying to compose himself, Hajime resolutely nodded his head. “Yeah, if anything is going to get what you want from Hiyoko, it’s this.” Although Chiaki was visibly confused, Hajime and Mahiru knew the plan. The only problem with openly discussing it at the back of the room was the fact that Hiyoko had actually come to homeroom with Mahiru this morning. It was pretty obvious that she was trying to watch them, or listen in- as well as she disguised her head turns and tilts, it’s hard to cover up the sudden movement of such a giant ponytail. 

However, Mahiru took that as her cue to wrap up the short talk. She must’ve just wanted to hear some reassurance. Not that Hajime could really blame her. Mahiru looked to Hajime one last time, before turning around, and returning to her seat.

Hajime could feel Chiaki staring into the side of his head; he knew exactly what she wanted to ask. Well… there wasn’t a problem with telling her, as far as he could see. “I’ll tell you about it later. First… we need to talk about that console…”

“Yes, you’re right. But… I don’t know where to start. Do you think it has something to do with being directly connected to the NWP? Program wise, at least.”

Casting his mind back, Hajime tried to remember exactly what Chihiro and Miu had said when he’d asked them about the console. If he was recalling correctly, Chihiro had designed it, and Miu had supplied most of the materials… He’d need to learn more. More about the tech behind all this. “I think… there’s a lead I can follow up on, at the very least.”

Standing outside the school gates, Hiyoko nervously fiddled with that ribbon around her neck. Waiting… she was waiting… Mahiru had asked to spend some time together after school today, just them. Together. Maybe she should loosen this ribbon, it felt as if it was suddenly trying to strangle her…

Footsteps. There were footsteps! Hiyoko heard footsteps! Excitedly she turned around, trying to keep a straight face. “Mahi- oh. Gross.” It was just Nagito. He carried on walking past her, but she definitely heard him dryly laughing as he did. That better not have been aimed at her…!

“Hiyoko!” That was Mahiru’s voice! Hiyoko’s head spun in the direction of her voice, and when it did… The first thing she noticed was that she was holding the hand of some girl. No, it wasn’t just any girl, it was that despondent little red haired girl that Tenko was always dragging around. Speaking of Tenko… Hiyoko suddenly felt her feet being lifted from the floor as two powerful arms wrapped themselves around her small frame.

“T-Tenko…! Get off…!” Hiyoko squeaked between bouts of having her ribcage crushed in Tenko’s vice grip. More importantly… what the fuck was she doing here!?

If Tenko had heard her, she didn’t show it. If anything, Tenko’s ‘hug’ got even tighter as she pushed her cheek against Hiyoko’s. “Aww, there’s no need to be like that Hiyoko! We’re gonna have so much fun hanging out this afternoon!” 

“… what?” Hiyoko croaked, deadpan. Tenko was joking, right? She had to be, right? This was supposed to be an afternoon for just Mahiru and herself… Who invited this bitch!?

“Tenko, if you keep spinning like that, both of you are going to be sick.” Mahiru’s concurred voice cut through the agonising pain of Tenko crushing her into dust. It also seemed to work on Tenko, who stopped spinning… wait, they were spinning? Tenko must’ve been holding her so tight that she just couldn’t tell. As soon as Hiyoko was put down though, she silently gazed up and Mahiru, who herself bore an expression overflowing with… guilt? “Right, I, uh… I’m so sorry Hiyoko! I know that I was the one who invited you out today, but I, uh, well, the student council have asked for my help doing some paperwork, and that’s going to keep me busy for a while… I know that you’re friends with Tenko though, and we’ve all hung out before, so I thought you might like to enjoy spending some time with her today instead. I’m so sorry that I can’t join you; we can spend some time together tomorrow though, if you’d like?” Before Hiyoko could respond, Mahiru started walking backwards, having let go of Himiko’s hand. “Have fun, you three! I’ll see you tonight Hiyoko!” And with that, she turned, walking faster than Hiyoko had ever seen Mahiru move before, back into school.

There was something wrong… That whole exchanged reeked of suspicion… But… Hiyoko didn’t really want to doubt Mahiru…

Silence swept through the party of three. Hiyoko- staring at the empty space Mahiru had been standing in mere moments ago; Himiko- blankly staring at her shoes; Tenko- energetically rocking back and forth on her heels, clearly eager to say something. When wasn’t she?

Hiyoko wasn’t really in the mood to tolerate kung-fu girl, and her catatonic sidekick, right now though. She sneered up at Tenko; it had very little effect. Odd… Tenko was usually much easier to get a wince out of, or an apology… Any reaction expect nothing. Instead, Tenko leaned forward, down towards Hiyoko a little bit. “You look really cute in a uniform Hiyoko.”

Resisting the urge to plant her fist directly into the innocent smile plastered on Tenko’s gross face, Hiyoko began to storm off, angrily stomping her feet. There was no reason for her to be mature around Tenko. “Come on, bitch. I don’t wanna stand around all afternoon…”

Stepping into the tech lab, Hajime barely had a second to breathe before he was treated to a verbal assault. “Go home, brat. You’re tainting the air.” How pleasant of Yasuke. He hadn’t even looked up from his manga, did he even know who he was talking to? Whatever the case, Hajime quickly realised that neither Miu, nor Chihiro, were actually present. Typical… He shouldn’t have waited to come see them until the end of the day.

“Hey, Yasuke, do you know where Chihiro and Miu are?” As much as Hajime didn’t want to chase them down and bother them outside of school hours, if doing so meant that he wouldn’t need to talk with Yasuke…

“Out. Probably prowling some street corners by now.” He always sounded so dismissive… Hajime wasn’t so sure he liked the implication he just made about the two of them either. 

Yasuke finally looked up at Hajime when he didn’t leave. Unfortunately, if he wanted some answers today, he’d need to get them from a guy so standoffish he probably wouldn’t even tell Hajime his birthday, let alone potential tech secrets. “Listen, I wanted to ask them something about, uh…” He had to be honest- there really wasn’t any point in being vague with Yasuke. “That console you guys made for another student to test the Neo World Programme. You know, the Usami thing?”

Yasuke sighed, deeply, closing his manga and placing it on the desk next to him. “What about it?” His voice was certainly stern… but he was seemingly ready to talk at least. The only problem was how in depth that talk would be.

“Uh, well… I was curious as to how it’s actually linked to the Programme. I didn’t know it was possible to completely wirelessly run something like Usami as an effective bug sweeping device.” Hajime wasn’t entirely certain of what he was even talking about, all things considered, but confidence is key, right?

Sighing again, Yasuke’s dull eyes stared right past where Hajime was standing, which was honestly worse than if he had glared directly at him. “You’re asking a neurologist how a computer program works? I wasn’t involved with most of that sort of stuff. Myself and Gekkogahara provided the theory work that needed to be implemented.”

“… that isn’t true, is it?”

Yasuke seemed to be caught off guard by Hajime’s statement of defiance, so much so that he actually started to look at him. “What did you just say?”

“I said, that isn’t true, is it? Not entirely at least.” Emboldened by the one piece of ammunition he had, Hajime took a couple of steps out of the doorway, and into the lab. “Miu told me, didn’t you have a hand in designing the screens used in both the console and… that.” Hajime pointed to the screen he’d use to enter the NWP.

“…” Yasuke wasn’t responding. Why? Why would he- “Not quite. I requested that Miu make a lot of different usable screens. I used them to increase our research budget.”

That was something new. But what did that actually mean? “You used them to increase the budget? How?”

“The board of directors at this school wanted something more than just a big box that realistically can’t and won’t ever leave this lab. So, I had your ‘friends’ do a little leg work for me. Miu created a bunch of things I asked her to- the monitors all around the school, a couple of phones, a digital camera- that console was a coincidence. We had some materials left over, so she stuffed them into the console like Chihiro asked. That good enough for you, ‘detective’?” Yasuke’s smirk oozed of sarcasm, as did his final statement. And, unfortunately, the little new information he just got didn’t seem very relevant. 

At the very least… “Do you think I could have one of those phones? Or the camera?”

“No.”

“What? Why not?”

“I don’t have them. Not anymore.” Yasuke turned back to his desk, his manga calling to him once more. Clearly, he wasn’t going to be of any more help.

Tomorrow then. Hajime would need to meet with either Chihiro or Miu tomorrow. They were the only way he’d be getting any more information on this. If they even had any. Typical, the first time after their team had decided to officially investigate was the first time any of Hajime’s information prying had ended up fruitless…

Tenko just… couldn’t ever stop talking, could she? Hiyoko had made it more than abundantly clear that she wasn’t listening- she wasn’t even walking with Tenko or Himiko, she had purposely stayed a little ahead of them, and yet Tenko was still going on and on about who knows what. Hiyoko had tuned it all out. Until Tenko grabbed her arm anyway.

“Oh, hey, you like candy, right? Wanna stop here and get some?” Tenko was pointing to a small shop on the corner of the street they were just about to pass through. Despite Hiyoko incessantly trying to rip her arm free of Tenko’s grasp, she was interested in the prospect of sweets… so long as Mahiru didn’t find out.

Actually, Hiyoko was sort of surprised that she’d missed it herself. Was she really sulking so much that she missed a nice candy store? “Fine. We can buy some candy. None of the foreign crap though!” Hiyoko took a step forward, but in that time Tenko had already grabbed her hand, and started dragging her into the store.

Hiyoko had given up on ever winning any sort of physical struggle against Tenko, so she resigned herself to getting dragged around. Thankfully though, Tenko didn’t hold her for much longer after they had actually entered the store. What, did Tenko grab her because she thought that she might run off? Curiously, Tenko also let go of Himiko’s hand, something she hadn’t done for the entire duration of their little afternoon outing. It would’ve been nicer if the thing that changed was Tenko’s eagerness to chat. “I don’t really eat a lot of sweets. It’s one of the few things I don’t love about martial arts, I can’t enjoy all the cute candy the world has to offer.” 

“Boo hoo…” Hiyoko dryly muttered as she glanced over the shelves, looking for anything even remotely acceptable for her to eat. Not much luck on that shelf though… Dammit, if only she were taller, she could see the top shelves…

“I’m super envious of you though. You eat so much candy, and you still look so pretty! It’s really hard to tell exactly what you look like when you wear that kimono, but in a uniform you-“

“Are you trying to say you thought I was fat?” Hiyoko glared at Tenko, her small hand gripping the shelf in front of her so hard that both of them were pretty sure she’d dented it.

Shock suddenly spreading over Tenko’s face, she rapidly waved her hands at Hiyoko. “No, of course not! I would never imply any such thing about a girl! I was trying to say that a uniform really lets you show off better than a baggy kimono.”

Hiyoko looked down at herself. At her tiny frame, her childlike physique… She didn’t think Tenko could aggravate her any more today, but here they were, and Hiyoko was seething. Folding her arms over her chest, Hiyoko turned away. “I’m not wearing a uniform so trashy pervs like you can eye up my body. I don’t usually wear a kimono to hide my body either. I wear it cuz that’s what’s expected of me!”

She hadn’t really meant to say that last part. Clenching her teeth, Hiyoko stopped herself from saying any more. That was when she realised that Tenko had stopped too. Stopped opening that big mouth of hers. Curiosity got the better of her, that and she hoped that seeing Tenko all regretful might brighten her own mood, so she turned back, only to find Tenko standing much closer to her than before. Close enough that Hiyoko had to tilt her head back to see her face. How had she moved so fast? Hiyoko should have been able to hear something like that. “Hiyoko… do you wanna talk about something?”

“What? No…” Hiyoko started to back away slowly, ready for Tenko to reach out and grab her, forcing her to stay.

Tenko never did.

“Are you having some family troubles?”

“Of course not. I-“

Tenko dropped to her knees. It wasn’t in that gross begging way that Mikan used to do, or how some of her worst fans would. It felt… genuinely respectful. That genuineness… scared Hiyoko a little bit. “I remember your Shadow, Hiyoko. It totally looked gyaru. And based on your attitude towards sweets, I doubt your Shadow looked like that because you’re actually into Western fashion.”

Hiyoko tried to press her hand over Tenko’s mouth, but she kept swaying her head just out of the way. “Sh-shut up…! S-stop talking about it…!” Hiyoko loudly whispered. Tenko just shook her head.

“I promise, it’s okay. Hiyoko, it’s okay to want to rebel against your family and its traditions. You’re a very independent girl, I can’t imagine you’d enjoy a traditional life.”

“You don’t… How did… You don’t know the first thing about me…”

“Maybe not… We haven’t sparred after all.” What did that have to do with anything? “I think I can relate a little though. If it is a family thing. When I was young, I was a real brat, and my parents sent me off to a dojo, to live and train there. I loved learning there, but I… don’t think I ever have or ever will totally forgive my parents for it, no matter how much I needed discipline. Personally, I can’t imagine a situation where I’d want to ship my kid off either, kinda makes me wonder if parents always know what’s best after all.”

“That’s… that isn’t the same… Not even close…” A tightness clutched at Hiyoko’s chest. She could feel it spreading to her stomach. Hiyoko didn’t struggle when she felt Tenko’s hand on the back of her head, or an arm around her shoulder. Hiyoko didn’t struggle when Tenko pulled her in close with those stupid, powerful arms of hers.

Warm. Comforting. Just like Mahiru.

Covertly rubbing her nose of Tenko’s shoulder, Hiyoko began to murmur. “… you better not tell anyone about this…”

“You have my word.” Tenko didn’t hesitate. Her voice was so soothing. This was really the same muscle head who was stuck in a pathetic doldrum a while ago? Wait… was this… Tenko’s way of paying her back, for that day they went to those gardens?

As the two separated, Hiyoko couldn’t help but see Mahiru in Tenko. Just for a moment. Someone who… genuinely cared… someone who wanted her to be… Hiyoko. Just Hiyoko, not Hiyoko Saionji, Ultimate Traditional Dancer, and heir to the Saionji family. Though she quickly dismissed that. There was no way she wasn’t just projecting what she wanted to see and hear in her moment of vulnerability. So Hiyoko then pointed behind Tenko. “Your pet is gone.”

Instantly, Tenko’s head swung around, her eyes widening at the sight of, well, nothing. “H-Himiko?! Himiko, where did you go?!” In a panic, Tenko stood back up, nearly falling over herself in the process, and frantically began spinning on the spot, trying to peak around the small store purely from where she was standing.

Wearing a smug smirk, Hiyoko lightly poked Tenko’s ribs, and pointed to the counter by the front of the store, where Himiko currently stood, paying for a small box of some kind of candy. Relieved, Tenko seemed to deflate as soon as she saw Himiko was fine, wearily dropping to her knees again. When Himiko returned, her deadpan face managed to raise one eyebrow slightly, before looking into her box of candy. “Nyeh… want some?”

The box was filled with a couple bags of rock candies. While Hiyoko didn’t want her charity, she could at least somewhat admire her good taste in sweets. Tenko on the other hand shot up from the floor even faster than she had fallen back down to it. “Himiko! You’re giving me a gift? Aww, you adorable little sweetheart! Wait… wait, Himiko…! You spoke… and did something without me holding your hand…! When, how, why, I-I-I-I-I-“

“What a pain…” Himiko sighed. As did Hiyoko.

It didn’t take very long for Hiyoko to return to looking for her own candy. Looping through the few isles in the small store, keeping an eye out for anything that caught her attention. Maybe she’d just buy some star candies… 

The next bag she found, she reached out for; for the second time since entering the store, Tenko had snuck up on her, poking her in the back. “Gah! Ugh, why did you do that?!” 

Tenko giggled at her reaction. “Sorry, couldn’t resist. Anyway, I wanted to give you these.” Without missing a beat, Tenko shoved the cardigan she had been wearing into Hiyoko’s hands, along with a 2000 yen note. Tenko clearly anticipated the question Hiyoko was about to ask, so she ended up saving them both some time by answering it as soon as the items left her hands. “Sorry, I know I’ve been a pest. You did want to hang out with someone else today, and I know you aren’t my biggest fan. I also went prying into your personal life when you insisted I shouldn’t… So buy yourself something nice. I don’t really know enough about you to get you anything you’d really like anyway.” Awkwardly laughing after she’d finished, Hiyoko lightly cursed under her breath. Well played, using her own words against her. “Umm… and the cardigan… Uh, I umm, I’m not sure if it’s my fault, yours, or both of ours, but… y-you’re a bit sweaty… so…” Tenko silently gestured at Hiyoko’s body, looking away with a slight blush on her cheeks. Hiyoko got the message, and hurriedly put the cardigan on, her own face flush with humiliation.

“You waited until now to tell me that…!” Hiyoko looked at the floor, defensively hugging her shoulders.

“Sorry, I didn’t have a good opportunity! Hey, it’s a good thing I wear three layers for just such occasions.” She… sounded proud of that for some reason.

“What? You wear that many shirts just in case someone gets a little sweaty?” 

“Not just anyone!” Tenko retorted, as if she were offended at that notion. “Any girls in need of protection. I’ll defend any girl, at any cost!”

“…”

“What? Is that weird.”

“Not just weird- it’s insane. Creepy too.”

“Wah!” Tenko reeled back, the energy draining from her eyes at the suggestion. Hiyoko shook her head, and tried to reroute the conversation.

“Whatever. Where’d you leave your girlfriend, anyway? Did she grow a few braincells and ditch your sorry ass?”

“G-g-girlfriend…?” Really? That was the part she focused on? “H-H-H-H-H-Himiko, my g-g-g-g-girlfriend…? Heh heh… Hi-Himikooooooo…!” Okay, eww… That was disgusting. Hiyoko really could’ve gone her whole life without seeing Tenko pull… that expression.

“Heh. Go figure. I always had a feeling you were batting for the other team.”

Somehow, Tenko managed to become even more flustered. It was like watching a gelatine mould wobble around on its shaky foundations. “Wh-what, n-n-no, I don’t… I don’t think about relationships all that m-much…! I-I’m married to Neo-Aikido, y-yeah!” And then… Tenko said what may well have been the worst possible response for Hiyoko to hear. “I-I-I-I just think a lot of girls are really cute, okay?! Don’t you?!”

Of course she did. Hiyoko’s dumb, annoying brain cycled through a bunch of images she’d been witness to over the past few nights… and some beautiful pictures in the summer sun… A distinct memory of Tuesday, May 7th… There was no hiding the the fact that her face wasn’t red from embarrassment about the sweat thing anymore. Tenko knew. The silence spoke volumes.

“I-I’m gonna go pay!” Hiyoko spat as she turned, practically running away from Tenko. It was pointless, she’d have to walk back to the dorms with her, and the shop was too small to effectively hide or run- still, it staved off some immediate embarrassment. Hiyoko could just about hear some feeble mutterings about how ‘it’s okay, me too’ and something like ‘Himiko stopped doing anything when you left’. Whatever… Hiyoko just wanted to go home… 

The sun was dipping just below the horizon now; that wasn’t what tipped Makoto off to the fact that he’d spent too long in Kyoko’s hospital ward. The hand he’d been resting his chin on was numb. Probably had been for some time now. The hand bound in a cast was resting on Kyoko’s bed, on the very edge, not quite touching her, but on far enough that it wasn’t at risk of gravity playing a painful prank on him. That would be seriously unlucky considering its current state.

Finally standing up, Makoto felt the same numbness from his hand in his legs, and his waist, and… just about everywhere. Staring down, he observed his two useless hands, held out just far enough in front of him that it didn’t take much effort to catch them in his sights. Useless… not for much longer.

Makoto diverted his gaze up to Kyoko’s sleeping face. Yes, sleeping… “I’m sorry Kyoko… I don’t think I’ll be coming here tomorrow. I’m finally getting the cast off on Monday, and Mikan said I should spend tomorrow fully resting in preparation. So… I guess I’ll see you on Monday now.”

No response. Obviously.

“Good night Kyoko. Sleep well…” It was all Makoto could think to say as his hand gripped the door handle. 

Every passing day wore down his optimism, chipped away at his hope. He knew that Kyoko would wake up… When though? It had to be soon, it had to be. Who else was going to save the day? Stop all the murders, the kidnappings… Were he and his friends really up to the task? It had all been his idea… but weren’t they just… being childish? Playing at being detectives, at being heroes?

No… what he felt was real. The desire to do this himself… was real. It had been something Makoto had felt ever since he became involved with the NWP. Yet… was that enough? Was a gung-ho attitude going to accomplish something that a professional detective couldn’t? That Kyoko couldn’t?

… for now, it would have to.

The walk back to the dorms was quiet, to say the least. Hiyoko wasn’t willing to say anything. Himiko was constantly dragging her feet, back to being fairly unresponsive. For Tenko though, this was like a small slice of heaven! Stuck between two cute girls… and holding both of their hands? Oh, it was almost too much! Actually, considering how sweaty her hands were getting, it was probably a little more than just ‘too much’. Tenko was surprised that Hiyoko hadn’t ripped her hand away because of that fact… She was probably just trying to be nice. Still, a sweet sentiment nonetheless.

A little pang of guilt had been swelling in Tenko’s chest since their talk though. Hiyoko had seemed kind of impressed with what Tenko had come out with, even though… in reality, it wasn’t anything new to either of them. Tenko had basically just thrown back the very same words Hiyoko had given to her own Shadow- maybe she’d just forgotten about that, or maybe… Hiyoko needed someone else to say it to her. It probably didn’t matter that much; it still made Tenko feel a little cheap.

As expected, as soon as the trio entered the dorm building, Hiyoko immediately let go of Tenko’s hand. “Good night, or whatever. See you later.”

‘H-hey! After our fun day out, you’re just gonna bail?” Tenko let go of Himiko’s hand so she could circle round in front of Hiyoko, trying to briefly block her escape route.

“Yeah. I don’t want anyone seeing me with someone like you. Consider yourself lucky I even walked that close to you anywhere near the school premises.” Prideful as ever, it seemed. Oh well, that was just a part of Hiyoko’s personality, it wasn’t something Tenko could, or really should, change.

There was, however, one reason Tenko couldn’t just let Hiyoko go this soon. “U-uhh, hey, could you just stay with Himiko for a second? I need to go pick something up from one of our classmates.”

“… whatever.” Hiyoko sighed as she plodded over to one of the chairs in the lobby. She wasn’t actually watching Himiko, but she figured as long as they were together she’d be fine.

With that, Tenko took her opportunity, and darted down the corridor leading to the first year’s dorms. After all, she had to at least make her blatant lie seem even remotely believable. Standing at the very end of the hall, Tenko took her phone out of her jacket pocket.

“Hello, Tenko. How did it go?” Mahiru’s voice came through loud and clear, though to remain on the safe side Tenko chose to speak in a softer, more quiet tone than usual.

“Heh-heh… well… Hiyoko still wasn’t exactly forthcoming with information, but we got to talking after a little bit of prodding from my end.”

Mahiru sighed. “At least you eventually got her talking. So? Anything bothering her?”

What Tenko would say to Mahiru had been something she’d been pondering over for a little while now. But she’d come to her own answer at this point. “There’s nothing to worry over Mahiru, I promise. Hiyoko… I think she’s just figuring herself out is all, coming to terms with who she really is. Have a little more faith in your friend, if anything really was troubling Hiyoko, I have it on good faith that she’d talk to you about it.”

It was quiet on the other side of the phone for a few moments, the faint static buzz of the connection the only real sound filling the void. Until Mahiru spoke again, that is. “Okay… okay. Thank you for this Tenko. Just know that I really appreciate you spending your afternoon on my dumb request.”

“Aww, it wasn’t a problem. I love hanging out with my little buddy!” Cheerily giggling to herself, Tenko knew that she shouldn’t dawdle for much longer. “I’ll talk to you later Mahiru, I’ve gotta get going. Night!” Tenko let the call last for just long enough to hear a ‘goodnight’ from Mahiru as well, before stuffing her phone back into its pocket, and rushing back to the lobby.

When she got back though, she was met with… mild confusion. “H-hey Hiyoko, I’m back… Where’s Himiko?”

Hiyoko had been staring off at nothing in particular, though based on the almost empty packet in her hands, it was clear that she’d be gorging herself on her candy. The small girl looked around, before shrugging her shoulders. “Dunno. She didn’t say anything. She probably just went back to her room.”

“A-are you sure?” Tenko began to wring her hands, a great lump forming in her stomach again, just like when she’d vanished in that store. Then again… there was a good chance that this was just like then, and Himiko just got bored of standing around, right? 

Wait… Tenko was just standing in the corridor she should’ve been walking down… “Geez, relax. I was here the whole time, nothing weird happened.” The soft bob of Hiyoko’s ponytail drifting by Tenko’s field of vision snapped her out of her paranoia briefly, but Hiyoko herself soon disappeared up the stairs, obviously returning to her own room.

Was she really just being needlessly paranoid? Maybe… She should go and check. Then again, Himiko would probably already be asleep, and there was little chance of waking Himiko up if she was asleep already. Tenko would just have to wait for a bit… until tomorrow… then she could check up on Himiko, and they could spend their Sunday together… right…?

Right?

…

“… wait, Hiyoko, you didn’t give me my cardigan back!”


	55. Chapter 53

Sunday, June 2nd

Tenko: EMERGANCYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!1!!!1!11!!1

Hajime: Tenko. It’s 3am…

Tenko: SHUT UP HIMIKO IS GONE!!!!!!!!!!!111

Hajime: You think she’s in the NWP?

Hajime: But weren’t you with her earlier?

Tenko: YE BUT SHES GONE NOW

Hajime: Okay. Are you absolutely sure?

Tenko: i mean i dont now 4 certn 

Hajime: …Tenko.

Hajime: I appreciate that you’re worried, but please just make sure first. Wait until the morning, check on her, and then we can decide what to do.

Hajime: Besides, we can’t wake everyone else up at this hour, and expect them to perform well in a battle scenario.

Hajime: …

Hajime: Tenko?

Tenko: k ill w8 til 10

Tenko: if no himiko ill b over right away

Hajime: You know you can’t. We have to wait until nighttime. And make sure to tell us before you do anything hasty. Got it?

10:30am. That was when Tenko kicked her way into the tech lab, probably without a thought in her head except Himiko. Just as expected. “Wah! Wh-what are you still doing here?” Tenko, perhaps because she had been caught a little off guard, defaulted into a battle stance

“I didn’t leave. I had a feeling you might do something like this.” Hajime stood between her and the screen leading into the NWP. He knew Tenko too well to not anticipate something like this. Unfortunately. He twirled his bat in his hand once- he too adopted the battle stance he’d use against Shadows.

Boldly, Tenko ignored him and bolted forward, only stopping when Hajime lowered the tip of his bat so she’d run directly into it if she continued on. “Get out of my way Hajime. I need to save Himiko.”

“I know, but I can’t just let you run in by yourself. Clearly, that’s what you were going to try.”

Tenko clenched her teeth, glaring at Hajime. Her stare was ice cold… but Hajime knew this was the right course of action. He couldn’t just let her run ahead, that would be suicide. “So what? You can’t stop me Hajime! Himiko needs me! She needs US! I refuse to let her die!”

Hajime and Tenko both knew she was right about something- Hajime couldn’t stop her. Not with strength. He needed something else. “I know Tenko, and I don’t want to let anyone else die either- but we need to do this as a team. Come on, you’re our leader, you should understand the importance of our cooperation more than anyone else. Don’t you remember our last outing? I couldn’t have reached Chiaki’s Shadow without the help of our allies, our friends. Even before that, it was because we worked as a team that we could save Hiyoko, if it was just you and me, we’d have been stuck in that cage, unable to help her.”

It seemed Hajime had at least somewhat gotten through to her. Tenko relaxed out of her stance, though she was still clearly on edge. “Of course I know all that! Still… I have to go Hajime! All the time I’m wasting here is time I should be dedicating to saving her!”

“Did you really not listen to a thing I just-“

“Don’t you regret what happened to Angie?!”

Tenko’s response hit its mark. Hajime faltered. The arm holding his weapon dropped to his side, his gaze drawn to the floor. “… that’s cruel, Tenko…”

“But it’s the truth!” Tenko shouted, stepping towards Hajime. “Not a day has gone by where I haven’t thought about what I could have done to prevent her death. After everything I did to her… and all the chances she gave me… When she needed us, needed ME… I couldn’t save her…” The hand that began to grip his shoulder snapped Hajime’s attention back to Tenko, her determined look… and the grief fuelling it. “I refuse to make another mistake like that, Hajime. It wouldn’t matter if it was Himiko in there, or someone I’ve never met.”

Hajime couldn’t maintain eye contact. Not after that. But it wasn’t as if they were in full control of the Angie situation. As far as they were aware, there was nothing to be worried about. Sure they could’ve been overly cautious, but… He still knew that he wasn’t wrong… and neither was Tenko. Maybe this was something like what Chiaki had been talking about before. Their opinions just clashed, that’s all. “… go on Tenko. Go save her. The rest of us will join you as soon as we can.”

“Thanks.” Tenko smiled, patting Hajime’s shoulder as she let go of him, circling around him to enter the NWP. Before she could though, there was something Hajime needed to say.

“Tenko,” he called out, turning to meet her eyes with his own determination. “Whatever you do… just stay safe, alright?”

The response she gave… wasn’t the one he was expecting, or wanted. “I’m sorry Hajime. I can’t make that promise. If it ever comes down to it… if I have to choose between me or someone else… I will protect the people I love, no matter the cost.”

It was… such a Tenko answer. Something like that is exactly what Hajime should have expected her to say, especially in light of her attitude towards recent events. Even so, there was no hiding the dread on his face, the fear at that potential prospect. As much as he hated it though… Hajime truly felt like he understood Tenko now… 

‘You feel like your bond with Tenko has grown deeper...’

The Martial Artists Social Link has reached Rank 5.

Those were Tenko’s final words to Hajime, before she jumped through the screen. The black hole engulfing his stomach- all of his insides actually- grew exponentially as soon as she left his view. No… no, those wouldn’t be her last words, not if he had anything to say about it. Following all those recent tragedies, Hajime had felt so powerless, so useless… He knew a similar fear had been eating at Tenko. Even so, she was there for the people around her. Himself… Himiko… 

It was time to return the favour.

How long had she been here? Where was she? Why was she even here in the first place? Was this all a bad dream? Himiko hoped it was… No matter how hard she tried though, she couldn’t wake up…

What was the last thing she could remember? She’d dropped… something… outside the dorms… and when she went to pick it up… No, she couldn’t remember what happened after that. Maybe this was all some cruel joke that dancer girl was playing on her. She was mean… and she was watching her on Tenko’s request… wasn’t she? Maybe she knocked her out and brought her to this stage place…

Himiko couldn’t go on. Her small legs were trembling, both out of exhaustion and terror. Wherever she was, it felt all kinds of scary. Himiko was terrified of the ocean. And as far as she was aware, she was stuck on some island. At least that must’ve proved this was a dream, and not a prank. There was no possible way she could just end up in the middle of nowhere like this in real life… after all, she hadn’t sensed any magic users nearby before her memory cut off, so there was no chance a rival mage teleported her here… This wasn’t the first nightmare Himiko had been plagued by recently either… That fact didn’t ease her tension in the slightest.

Wherever she was, it was like a ghost town in a scary movie. Buildings everywhere, yet not a single inhabitant. When she’d checked that nightclub, she was certain she would have found someone- the gaudy neon sign was on and everything. Nothing. When she’d gone inside, there was nothing, not a single person inside. The same was true of the hospital she was currently in. Deserted. Abandoned. Completely empty.

Curled in a ball beneath the front desk, Himiko hugged her knees close to her chest, purposely trying to make herself as small as possible. She squeezed her eyes closed too. Just looking at the shadows being cast on the wall was making her heart beat uncomfortably fast- she knew those shadows just belonged to the chairs in the waiting room… Fear easily warps the mind.

A crashing sound blew in through one of the shattered windows. Like the sound of dropping a huge water balloon onto the floor from super high up. Yeah… that was a nice, friendly way of putting it. Far less scary that way, at least, that was how Himiko rationalised the comparison in her head. It was just a shame that she’d forgotten that rationality when she peaked around the side of the counter.

Outside one of the windows, a convulsing mass of black sludge rose to block the light streaming in through the only window that still had glass in it. The way the light passed through the translucent blob creature revealed something else just as terrifying- the hand prints on the window. Smudged, the lines of the fingers sliding down. As if… someone had been pressing their hand to the window… before they were torn away.

Paralysed with fear, Himiko only bolted back under the counter when she saw the creature move, what should’ve been its head snapping to the side in a jerking motion. Pressing herself into the corner of the underside of the counter, Himiko slammed both hands over her gasping mouth. She could already feel how clammy her skin was, the cold sweat burning her frozen hands. What was that thing? Did it even matter in a nightmare? Whatever the case, all she had to do was think positively, that’s something Tenko might suggest, right? Think about the good things, things that had gotten her through trials and tribulations before. What about… one of her more recent nightmarish episodes? That evening she spent with Shuichi? It was so warm in his room, so comforting. He was so nice to her, he made her feel safe on a night of vulnerability. When Tenko wasn’t there. When… Tenko wasn’t…

The front doors opened. Himiko could hear the sloshing sounds of the blob thing moving. If it was even possible, she curled even deeper into her corner, prayers running through her addled brain. ‘Help me… T-Tenko… Sh-Sh-Shuichi… anyone… help me…!’ Even as her silent pleas rang through her skull, the shadows on the walls twisted into new formations, inky black claws imprinted on the stone just next to her, ready at any second to reach into her hiding spot, and drag her out before she would even have a moment to scream…!

Himiko heard wet ‘footsteps’ enter the hospital. Every movement followed by a sloshing, dripping sound, as if the monster was leaking, trailing something behind itself as it moved. Then it stopped. Right next to the counter. The hands clamped over her tightly clenched mouth barely suppressed her terrified whimper… But to her absolute relief, the monster didn’t stop for long. It crawled away, through the doors in the back, and began to climb the stairs beyond it.

As soon as Himiko could no longer hear it, she moved. Fast. With all the adrenaline pulsing through her, Himiko disregarded every ounce of her brain telling her to stop and hide while she scrambled out from her hiding spot, getting to her feet. Himiko didn’t have the time for her lethargy, no matter how much her body was screaming at her to let it rest- she needed to run if she wanted to escape this nightmare!

After clambering out of her hiding spot, Himiko’s eyes widened in horror when they landed on the puddles she’d heard be left behind in the wake of that monster. The black puddles of ink convulsed on the spot, mass seemingly spawning from nothing as they rose, taking the shape of slimy mounds. Something from within started to push out of the slime, the faintest outline of facial features emerging on the inky skin, an uncanny, humanoid element to the utterly inhuman monster. 

Before Himiko even had a chance to panic for her life again, the creatures started to move. Not towards her, but up the stairs, presumably following after the larger monster. Odd that they didn’t even look at her, but Himiko didn’t really want to complain about that. By whatever miracle, she hadn’t been targeted; Himiko thanked her luck as she charged for the doors, sprinting as fast as her childlike legs could carry her into the light outside.

Where could she go though? There were only buildings on this island, all of which appeared smaller than the hospital. Was anywhere safe? There was also a bridge, but crossing one in a situation like this was just asking for it to collapse. Even if it didn’t, there was no knowing what would be lurking on the other side; for all she knew, it could be even more dangerous over there. Sprinting a little further though, Himiko found a spot that could have been promising.

A collection of shops and stalls, clustered together to create a rather tight network of streets and intersecting paths. Although Himiko hadn’t gotten a great look at the monster from before, she doubted that it would be able to fit down all these streets.

When she, herself, began to wander through them though, Himiko began to have second thoughts about hiding there. Not because her thoughts on the monster fitting through had been compromised, no… It was because just being here scared her. The eerie atmosphere that pervaded the rest of the island felt just as oppressive here- the buzzing of the deteriorating lights, the dreary colours all around her, the mountains of abandoned electronic goods… At the very least, the claustrophobic alleys alleviated a small amount of her tension- her mind always connected small spaces to her magic performances- which was a little calming for her. 

“What are you doing?”

What was… Was that her voice? Himiko stopped in her tracks, quickly turning her head in every direction she could, trying to find the source of that voice. It had sounded just like her… but no words had left her mouth… 

Upon turning back the way she came, a sharp, pointed staff grazed the end of her nose. Quietly yelping, Himiko stumbled backwards, falling to the ground as both surprise and dread seized her heart. 

“You’re pathetic.” The figure standing in front of her jeered at her, its voice cold and… and its voice…

Looking up, Himiko couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Standing over her was… herself? Another Himiko? No… it couldn’t be… The other Himiko was dressed similarly to Himiko’s usual performance attire- her uniform jacket over a sweater vest, red skirt and tights, not to mention her hat. The other Himiko donned a cape too, but this one was a little different to Himiko’s; its high collar framed her small, stony face, and the main fabric fell more like a full body cloak than a cape. The ornaments in her hair were different too, a circlet wrapped around her whole head, with the blue gem of her usual hair-clip front and centre on her forehead.

Once more, that pointed staff was aimed at Himiko’s face, following her with steady precision as she slowly shuffled backwards. “Is that it? You’re just going to flee? Poorly, might I add.” Himiko took it back- this person didn’t sound like her at all. They might have borrowed her inflection, but they didn’t speak like her at all. “Sad as it is to admit it, I expected no better. That’s all you do- run away.”

“H-huh...?”

“You heard what I said. We both know it’s true.” Silently, the second Himiko aimed her staff at Himiko’s body, and lunged. Himiko instinctively flinched, ready for agonising pain, but instead felt her cardigan tugging. Looking at her side, the staff had pierced through the hem of her cardigan, leaving her unharmed. “As expected. When your life was threatened, you did nothing. Just sat there and waited to die. Do you do anything yourself?”

Himiko could feel her heart pounding in her ears, the sweat pouring down her body as she leant back as far as she could. The other her didn’t relent.

“Why aren’t you saying anything back?! Do you need someone to do all the talking for you as well?! Tenko isn’t here to baby you, you know. You can’t rely on her to defend you here, to walk you to safety, to deal with all your emotions for you!”

“Wh-what are you talking about…?” Himiko whimpered.

This obviously angered the other her even more. Plucking the staff holding her in place from the ground, it kicked Himiko’s chest, pressing her flat against the floor as it placed its foot triumphantly on her stomach. “Don’t bother. We know what you’ve been doing. Forcing that depressive act just so you don’t have to face reality. It’s so much easier to let Tenko do it all for us anyway, isn’t it? Let her make all the decisions, handle our problems. Remind me, when have you chosen to take initiative since Angie’s death? Oh, that’s right, when you bought yourself some candy. Tch. We don’t deserve the kindness she’s shown us. We don’t deserve the kindness ANYONE has shown us.”

The other her pressed down with its foot, forcing the breath from Himiko’s mouth. “Wh-who… are you…? Why are you… doing this…?” Himiko whimpered.

Leaning down towards Himiko, her double’s stony face hovered above her own, its icy eyes rolling shivers through her body. “Me? Isn’t it obvious? I am you. And I’m doing this because it’s what you deserve.”

“M-me…? You’re… me? N-no, that makes no sense… You can’t be-“

“A performer indeed.” Again, the other Himiko pressed down harder. “Your tricks and deceptions might work against your ‘friends’, but you’ve never been especially skilled at convincing yourself of anything. Now,” the other Himiko dramatically threw its arms out to the side, its piercing stare somehow becoming harsher. “Allow me to show you some real magic!”

The other Himiko jumped back, just in time for its body to explode, releasing a gooey substance, splattering black and red muck all over the walls trapping them in the alleyway, and on Himiko too- slime that she quickly wiped off of her cheeks with her sleeves. 

A tall shadow engulfed Himiko in darkness. Where the other her had stood mere seconds prior, now… hovered… a being that radiated malevolence. Body completely shrouded by a large, thick, red robe, the new figure was almost too large to fit within the confines of the alley. Layered atop its basic robe was another, thicker piece of fabric, covering where the opening of the robe would be at the front, otherwise ornamental with its intricate runes and magical symbols. Hood raised, darkness had engulfed where the head should’ve been, yellow eyes gleaming from within, slitted pupils granting the figure a more bestial nature. 

A powerful wind began to blow through the alley, seemingly caused by the dark purple magic circle that had appeared beneath the monster, illuminating the darkness with an incandescent glow, and creating an up-draft beneath the monster. Blowing its robes up, Himiko could see nothing in place of where a body should’ve been- just like the head, a ball of impenetrable darkness resided in that space. Its sleeves raised too, not because of the wind, no, this was entirely purposeful on the part of the monster, revealing nothing like hands or arms within them either, rather, another bottomless darkness. That darkness didn’t last. A purple glow identical to that of the magic circle radiated from those sleeves, energy gathering within…

Himiko knew she had to move. To run, flee, anything but stay frozen on the floor. Yet… all of her limbs had locked in horror. She was a mage- she knew what was happening. Defenceless as she was, she would soon be little more than a black smudge on the floor, incinerated by some spell or another. “Move… please… just move…” Himiko muttered under shaky breath, freeing an arm from the chains she’d placed on herself, only to punch the legs that still resisted. “I… I don’t want… to die…”

A pillar of fire erupted between Himiko and her assailant, one that clearly wasn’t caused by the monster itself, its concentration breaking, and its magic fading. In the following moments, an arrow tore through the shoulder of the creature, causing it to lurch backwards, a guttural growl ringing through the alley as it did.

“HIIIIIIIIIIMMMIIIIIIIIIIIKKOOOOOOOOO!” A familiar voice. A familiar shout. The voice of a hero. A voice that filled Himiko’s pounding heart with hope.

As soon as Tenko had realised that the third island had opened up, she’d had a feeling that was where she was going to find Himiko. Never had she been so glad to have trusted her instincts. If she had arrived even a second later… No, now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that!

With the Shadow still recovering, Tenko sped to Himiko’s side, lifting her from the ground. “Himiko, are you okay?” The only response she got were rapid nods, but that was enough right now. Tenko stood in front of Himiko, keeping her friend close against her back, watching the movements of the Shadow with a keen eye… Wait… it wasn’t actually moving? 

Tenko held her battle stance, but as the seconds went by, it almost felt unnecessary… “Umm…” Tenko really wasn’t sure what was happening- this was even more passive than Chiaki’s Shadow. 

A heavy ball of some sort of liquid splashed on the top of Tenko’s head. She retched in disgust as some dark slime trickled down in front of her face. “Eww! What the-?” Tenko hurriedly ran her hands through her hair, trying to get all of the goop that she could out of it. As she was doing so, however, she felt Himiko tug on her sleeve.

“T-Tenko…” Himiko was looking up, probably at the roof of one of the surrounding buildings. Her voice sounded even smaller than usual, and she was pressing herself even deeper into Tenko’s back. When Tenko looked up, she immediately knew why. 

Looming over them was some sort of slimy Shadow, like a giant version of the usual blobby Shadows Tenko fought whilst in the NWP. Then again… something was a little different about this one, it wasn’t just another Shadow… It sort of felt as if it was… No, could it be…?

Scooping Himiko up in her arms, Tenko immediately bolted. “Eros! Keep them occupied!” Tenko knew nothing else needed to be said, her Persona could handle covering Himiko and herself as they escaped. Hopefully Eros wouldn’t be too badly damaged though… not only might she need him later, if he was worn down, that may well affect her own abilities. Instead of worrying about that though, Tenko felt she had to give some calming words to Himiko. “It’s gonna be alright, Himiko. I’ll get you out of here, safe and sound.” It wasn’t much… but it seemed to suffice. Himiko didn’t move in her arms much, huddled close to Tenko’s body. Any other time, Tenko would have adored feeling Himiko’s heartbeat so close to her own… Another thing ruined by whatever degenerate was throwing innocent people in here!

“Tenko!” Himiko shouted. She’d peered past Tenko’s body, looking back at where they’d started. Had something happened? Himiko’s cry hadn’t been at all positive. Making sure that she wouldn’t run into a wall whilst darting down the alleys, Tenko turned her own head… only to find that they were being pursued. Two small figures were chasing them down, their entire bodies shrouded by torn red cloaks. Tenko wasn’t even sure that there were eye holes for them to see through- totally unfair, if they didn’t need to see to navigate! Of a much more significant concern was the gleaming metal being held by both pursuers; obviously each were carrying knives, or some other sort of blades.

With Eros presumably occupied, and Himiko in her arms, Tenko had little offensive option against these two Shadows- at least, she assumed they were Shadows. She had no other choice but to shake them off in the alleyways. 

That proved much more difficult than Tenko had expected. The Shadows followed her every turn perfectly, even when she was sure she was out of their sights. Even knocking over stacks of boxes, or discarded TV’s to block the path wasn’t working. The pursuing Shadows were undaunted… All the way until one of the exits made its way into view. Tenko hadn’t been aiming for one, in fact, leaving the confines of the narrow alleys would likely only open her and Himiko up to their pursuers. On the other hand, an open space meant that Tenko could fight back more effectively, after finding a safe spot for Himiko.

The light leading out to the main body of the third island… it was practically calling Tenko to it. With all the speed she could muster in her powerful legs, she pushed on, trying as hard as she could to out-pace the Shadows on her tail. And it was working, it was actually working! The Shadows were falling back, maybe even slowing down. They must’ve realised that they’d never catch up.

Their light of freedom closed when the slimy Shadow from a few moments before dropped down to block the exit. Now… they were trapped! Stuck between the imposing size of one Shadow, and the deadly blades of two others. Worst of all… Tenko knew she was running too fast to stop before colliding directly with the blobby Shadow. That must’ve been why the other two had fallen back- this was a coordinated attack! Had those smaller guys really been pushing her in this direction? As far as she was aware, Shadow’s weren’t that smart… were they?

If she really did hit that Shadow, she wasn’t sure what would happen. Since she had already sort of been hit by it, she knew that its body wasn’t dangerous to touch, at least. But was the main body thick? If it was, they would run into the problem of being faced with a living wall. Unable to pass through, she’d have to fight three opponents while also defending Himiko. If it wasn’t quite that solid… well, hitting anything of that size would grind their escape to a halt, even worse was that Tenko already knew that the Shadow’s body was fairly sticky- in other words, she’d be slowed down, and a sitting duck, if she could even get through it in the first place.

As far as Tenko was concerned, there was only one way out of this entirely unscathed. And it was a long shot, especially considering that she was only a couple of seconds away from charging directly into the Shadow. ‘Come on Eros, please return to me! I need you right now!’ That was all she could think as she squeezed her eyes closed, prepared for an inevitable impact.

“WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH”

Neither Tenko or Himiko were the ones to make that noise… Wait a moment, Tenko knew whose voice that was…!

What must’ve been a fraction of a second before Tenko would have collided with the Shadow, a little white rabbit corkscrewed into its side, knocking it over, and opening up the space it was blocking. “Thanks Usami!” Tenko screeched as she flew past the bunny. This was already a good sign- with another fighter, Tenko was confident that she could face off against the Shadows, even if it was going to be a three-on-two battle for now. Considering Usami’s arrival, she was equally as confident that Hajime, Makoto, and Hiyoko would be quick to follow.

Grinding to a halt, Tenko spun herself around, kicking up a relentless cloud of dust as she did. Usami waddled to her side as she set Himiko down, guiding the mage behind her. 

Behind them; the sea. In front; the two Shadows that had just emerged from the alleys and the bigger one that Usami had tipped over.

“Ready Usami? Oh, no, wait, I meant, are you ready Chiaki?” Stumbling through her words, Tenko extended her right arm, and bent her back leg, lowering herself into another battle stance.

“Yup yup, I’m ready, Tenko!” Usami squeaked, holding her staff above her head.

Glancing back over her shoulder once, Tenko nodded her head. It was a sign to both Himiko and herself- no matter what, Tenko was going to defend her.

“Whoa! Be careful, Chiaki!” Hajime was trying to keep his concerned voice down to as quiet a volume as possible; it was already alarming enough that two girls were using a ladder to climb into the window of a school, let alone what window they were using. Attracting unwanted attention was so much easier in the light of day than the dead of night. Reserve Course students frequented the Reserve building on Sunday’s, at least, some of the studious ones did, and there was a non-zero chance of one of them just glancing out the window and seeing… this.

Not only was Chiaki climbing the ladder incredibly slowly, but she was gaming in one hand, and climbing with the other. Sure, he knew why she was using that console, Hiyoko had sent him a running commentary of what was happening via text; that didn’t make her speed or dangerous behaviour any less irritating or concerning.

Hiyoko had lost her patience a while ago too. Her sandals kept clacking on the floor while she tapped her foot… That, in and of itself, was rather aggravating too.

And although it was out of his control, it was also quite aggravating that Makoto couldn’t come today. He was confined to his room on medical grounds. To be fair to Makoto, he had wanted to join, but Chiaki was insistent that he finish his healing process, so as to not risk another unnecessary injury.

“C’mon, speed it up, fat-ass!” Hiyoko shouted. As much as Hajime wanted to correct both the tone and content of it… he was sort of thinking a similar thing.

“Sorry…” That was Chiaki’s only response, her nose still buried in that screen. Hajime just about managed to restrain himself from reaching out if the window, and pulling Chiaki up himself. That… probably would have been even more dangerous though.

It likely only took Chiaki another couple of seconds to finish the climb, but considering how antsy Hajime was about letting Tenko run in alone, every passing second was more agonising than the last. Even though he knew she was relatively safe, with Usami with her, his heart wasn’t anywhere close to calming down. “Finally! Okay you two, let’s move!”

“I can’t.”

Hajime hadn’t even turned around before Chiaki said that. “You can’t? What do you mean Chiaki?”

Chiaki still refused to look up from the screen, but Hajime could see something in her eyes. A blazing passion uncommon in Chiaki. The sort of determination that… Tenko usually had. “If I go in with you, I’ll just slow you down. I don’t move that fast while playing, and if I stop playing, I might put Tenko and Himiko at risk. At least until you guys defeat one of the Shadows, I think I should support you from out here.”

The sweat starting to form on Chiaki’s brow was evidence enough that this wasn’t a decision made lightly. “I can vouch for her moving slower than a fucking snail when playing. She’s the reason we took so long to get here in the first place,” Hiyoko scoffed. Maybe she had a point too…

“Ugh… fine. Chiaki’s Persona isn’t combat oriented anyway, and without Makoto, we need all the help we can get.” Realistically, they didn’t have the time to be discussing this. Hajime silently decided that that was the end of it, nodding towards Hiyoko.

“‘Bout time,” she pouted. “Let’s get this over with.” 

“Before you go…” Chiaki hesitated. Hiyoko was already primed to enter, and Hajime was inclined to just let her go on and hear whatever Chiaki had to say himself. “That other Shadow… One is Himiko’s, but the other… I think…”

Hajime nodded. “Yeah… I had the same thought.” If these larger Shadows were following the pattern they assumed they did, then there was a good chance Chiaki’s theory was right.

That other Shadow was probably Angie’s.

It was… sort of odd. The fight wasn’t progressing anywhere close to how Tenko had expected. The two smaller Shadows were pathetic. Tenko could just swat them aside with one arm, and they would disappear in a cloud of reddish-black smoke. And yet two more would emerge from the shade, ready and eager to take their places, whilst being just as disposable. The slimy Shadow too, it hadn’t directly attacked once. Instead, it seemed to be creating those smaller Shadows that populated the other islands. Maybe this was the thing that was making them? Regardless of that, Tenko was familiar with this sort of battle strategy; this was a battle of attrition. Of endurance. These Shadows were trying to wear her down. Slowly but surely. Worst part was, it was sort of working.

Tenko wasn’t sure how Usami was holding up, but Tenko could feel herself getting weaker. Or maybe it wasn’t her specifically- she could tell that she was wearing Eros thin, now that he had returned to her. Still, if they wanted to win here, they had to go to their limits- it was time to get proactive.

While Usami was clearing out some of the small, black Shadows, Tenko called out her plan. “Usami! Keep Himiko safe for a moment! I’m gonna go for the big guy!” Without waiting for a response, Tenko cracked her knuckles and charged forward. Her target was pretty big, so she assumed it would be difficult to miss, but to think this fight would be so easy was, in retrospect, a very naive sentiment. 

Leaping at the Shadow, Tenko spun in the air, ready to plant her right foot directly into her foe. With the swiftness of running water, the Shadow compressed itself close to the ground, and slid out of the way of Tenko’s attack. Apparently that viscous form wasn’t just for show, this thing could really move. That made sense though, if this was the sort of creature that used other beings to do its damage for it, then it probably wasn’t so proficient in combat itself, and would focus on evasion before confrontation.

But one can only dodge for so long- everything makes mistakes, be they human, animal, or Shadow. Tenko kept on the offensive, sliding along the ground with the intent of catching the Shadow that way. Again, she missed, with the slime monster bouncing back up, seemingly hovering in the air, waiting for Tenko’s body to completely pass under it before dropping back to the ground in an inky puddle. 

Digging her fingers into the ground, Tenko planned to pivot herself backward, to go for a punch or jab this time, but she was caught off guard by two more of those red, cloaked Shadows, both of them pouncing upon her. Thinking fast, Tenko ended her pivot attempt, and simply rolled to the side, two blades piercing the ground she’d been on just moments before. Those two blades only belonged to one Shadow though; the other landed on the back of the one hunched over its buried knives, launching itself off it towards Tenko. Ducking down, Tenko caught the Shadow with a targeted uppercut to the chest, smirking as it evaporated in a puff of smoke. Its partner had retrieved its blades from the ground, and came speeding at Tenko too, slashing at the air with reckless abandon. With her fighting style, it was dangerous to try and directly combat that, so with a snap of her fingers, Tenko called “Eros,” and a small flame engulfed the Shadow, halting its assault enough for Tenko to deliver a kick directly to its head. Another one down.

That didn’t mean she was any closer to catching up with her target though. A pincer attack with Usami would probably work perfectly, but doing that right now would leave Himiko entirely undefended. Which meant that instead… Tenko’s best bet was probably a fake-out. But how do you fake-out a gravity defying blob monster? Tenko supposed that was something she would just have to figure out as she went. Getting a better feel for its movements would undoubtedly help in determining how to catch it. 

The Shadow itself was on the retreat again, leaving puddles in its wake that Tenko knew would form into Shadows of their own. Chasing after the main body, Tenko made sure to stomp down on the developing heads of every puddle she could, crushing the artificial life out of the Shadows before they could really develop. With most of her focus on dispatching those though, her progress with the main Shadow wasn’t, well, progressing much. They were keeping a relatively equal distance from each other, and were basically just going around in a giant circle. And that’s when Tenko stumbled upon an idea. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that she stumbled over it.

With such repetitive movements, complacency was all but expected. Of both Tenko herself, and the Shadow. Accidentally, Tenko missed one of her landings, not quite crushing the small Shadow beneath her feet, and that noticeably made the big blob hesitate. Tenko immediately recognised that as her chance- in a moment of pure instinct, with nary a thought running through her mind, she buried a foot into the dirt beneath the shadowy blob at her feet, then quickly raised that foot, and it, into the air. Punching forward, Tenko sent the small Shadow hurtling towards the larger one, and, despite seemingly being made of the same material, when the two collided, the smaller one evaporated like normal upon impact, whereas the bigger one appeared stunned, reeling back on the spot.

Not missing the window she had created for herself, Tenko leapt into the air, performing one easy flip, before angling herself down, ready to split the big Shadow in half with her outstretched foot.

But apparently that just wasn’t meant to be.

It happened so fast. Tenko was sure she’d be ready for whatever the Shadow had to throw at her… She was positive it was going to do something the second she saw it convulse… but this…

In the blink of an eye, the Shadow reformed its entire body, skilfully moulding itself into a new shape. A horrifyingly familiar shape… A perfect sculpture. Tenko could see the terror carved into the face, even through the gooey texture.

An… gie…?

The memory of that day… that fight… came rushing back all at once upon seeing that face. When she’d attacked Angie by mistake… with the same leg that was hurtling towards her again…! N-no, it wasn’t her, not really! This Shadow was just taking her shape…

Her mind riddled with anxieties, Tenko faltered in her attack, providing the Shadow with the perfect opportunity to respond. Tenko failed to react before the Shadow sprung up from the ground, reforming its shape once again into something akin to a fist, forcing the breath out of Tenko’s lungs as it slammed into her stomach.

Tenko felt her body tumble over itself as she hit the ground, rolling backwards for a distance that, outside of the NWP, would probably have caused some very serious damage to her. Picking herself up on shaky legs, Tenko could feel her heart pounding, trying to catch up with what had just happened, as was her brain. What had just happened? That Shadow… for a second, it had done something to itself to make it look just like… but how? How did it know what Angie looked like? How had it known that that would stop her? A lucky guess, or…?

“T-Tenko!”

That was Himiko! Thanks to that call, Tenko turned her head just in time to see that two more of the red draped Shadow’s had returned, one of which was taking aim directly at her back. Unfortunately, there wasn’t really time to dodge it completely, nor was Tenko in good enough physical condition to be performing incredible acrobatic manoeuvres on such short notice. Barely able to turn her body, one of the Shadow’s blades sliced across Tenko’s back, but Tenko knocked the creature with her elbow in the very next second, throwing it to the floor where she promptly stomped it into a cloud of red smoke.

Where was the second one? They had always come in pairs before… Maybe Usami had gotten rid of it already? Wait, what about the Shadow she was chasing? Surprised that it hadn’t attacked her while she was down or distracted, Tenko frantically looked around. And then, she saw… it hadn’t moved. At all. It was exactly where it had been when it punched her away, now just a blob again. What the…?

“Tenko, come over here!” Usami was calling her now. Maybe… it would be a good idea to regroup for a moment.

Rejoining Usami and Himiko, it was clear that Usami was worried about something. “What is it Usami? You notice anything?”

“D-did I notice anything?” Usami… sort of sounded angry. But picturing Chiaki behind the controller, Tenko could only really imagine her pouting adorably. Anger and Chiaki were two things just too far removed from each other to ever go together. “T-Tenko, your HP and SP are getting dangerously low! What were you thinking, being so reckless!?”

“S-sorry…” In spite of what she’d just thought… getting scolded by Usami was pretty embarrassing. In front of Himiko too! Ahhh, so uncool! Himiko was sure to think she was lame, getting told off by a little rabbit. But was she really doing so badly? She hadn’t been hit THAT often, had she? OH, right, Chiaki had said something about this after awakening to her Persona, something about certain Persona skills draining her ‘HP’…

“That isn’t just it though. I also-“ Usami was promptly interrupted by Himiko shouting, pointing over to where Tenko had left the big Shadow. The smaller puddles it created were advancing again, just as they had in the earliest stages of the fight. Tenko was prepared to take them on, but Usami stopped her. “Wait, Tenko, don’t just rush in! This is what I was going to tell you. Whilst you were distracting the big guy, the little ones it sent out stopped moving.”

“But… now they’re moving again? Oh!” Tenko understood what Usami was trying to say. The real reason the Shadow didn’t actively try to engage in combat was because it needed to focus on controlling the smaller ones instead! The problem with that was… “So… how do we beat it?”

Perhaps Tenko should’ve expected it, but Chiaki had an immediate answer. “It’s a simple ‘take advantage of its weakness’ situation. We need to attack it whilst it’s busy controlling other Shadows. Which means…” She went silent. Again, Tenko knew why.

“We need to use bait tactics, right?” Instinctively, Tenko’s eyes shot to her best friend, quivering on the spot, clearly terrified and confused. “Then I’ll-“

“No!” With unexpected assertiveness, Usami slammed her magic stick into the side of Tenko’s leg. “We can’t have you running out into danger by yourself Tenko. Not alone. Back up is on the way, so for now, let’s stay on the defensive, alright?”

It was silly to argue against that. Tenko knew full well what Usami was afraid of. Without Makoto here, they had no way to heal injuries, which meant… death was a very real possibility. Defence it was. At the very least, this way, Tenko could directly protect Himiko. And, as a bonus, get to look totally awesome in front of her as well!

Spending Sunday inside was… agonising, to say the least. Makoto couldn’t stop thinking about Kyoko, or about if his friends were okay in the NWP, or about Kyoko, or about his friends, or…!

A soft knock at his door interrupted his silent breakdown. Who could that be? At the very least, they might be able to take his mind away from his incessant worrying for a little bit.

To Makoto’s surprise, when he opened up his door, Mikan was waiting outside, holding some sort of medical box… thing. “O-oh, Mikan… hello? I didn’t expect to see you today.”

An uncharacteristically bright smile illuminated Mikan’s gloomy face. It was… actually kinda cute. “I-I’m s-s-s-sorry for coming by unannounced, b-b-b-but I, umm… I-I wanted to give you a little surprise today.”

“A… surprise?” Well… getting a visit from her was a surprise in and of itself. He wondered what she had in mind… but he figured he was obviously about to get the answer to that question.

Mikan fidgeted about on the spot, holding her box close to her chest. “Umm…! S-s-surprise, I’m g-g-going to remove your cast today…!” Makoto immediately lit up. If that was true… surely he’d be allowed to leave later! Which meant that…!

Resisting the urge to hug Mikan in gratitude, Makoto stepped back, gesturing into his room. “Thank you so much Mikan. You have no idea how happy I am to hear that!” Wow… what luck.

“A-all done…!” Mikan excitedly exclaimed after having removed the cast. Not having the bulky thing felt a little weird, like his arm suddenly didn’t weigh anything at all. It was freeing in a really silly way, but Makoto was more than happy for it. 

As soon as he was free, Makoto jumped up from his bed. Standing in front of Mikan, he planted both of his hands on her shoulders. Wow… the arm that was in the cast was really sweaty, huh? “Mikan…! Again, thank you so much! You’re an absolute life saver!”

“U-U-U-U-U-U-Ummm, I-I-I-I-I-I, hhhnnnnnggggg…!” Makoto immediately drew back. The sounds that Mikan was making were… well, it sounded like she was uncomfortable. He probably should’ve known better than to just grab someone like that, especially someone like the notoriously skittish Mikan. The poor girls face had turned a hot pink, no doubt in shock, or something, was what Makoto surmised. 

“Oh! I’m so sorry about that! I umm…” He really had no excuse. And he wasn’t sure what else to say…

“N-no, i-it’s okay… I-it’s nice to be… a-a-appreciated… and r-r-relied on…” Holding her dark cheeks, Mikan squirmed about again. Well… at least she hadn’t actually been uncomfortable? Unfortunately, Makoto couldn’t afford to hang around here much longer.

Bowing, Makoto once again thanked Mikan. He needed to leave though. Now! There wasn’t time to be inconspicuous, nor was there time to get his combat knife. Pandora would have to do! “I, uh, have to go now Mikan! There’s something I really have to do! Don’t worry about locking the door when you leave, it’s fine. Uh, anyway, bye!” The final word barely leaving his lips, Makoto sprinted out of his room and down the hall, leaving an obviously confused Mikan in his wake. He’d have to apologise for that later; supporting his friends was the more important thing right now.

He just hoped he could make it before anything bad happened…

It was becoming increasingly difficult to tell if this defence idea was a good one or not. Although the Shadows being sent their way weren’t that big of a threat, the larger Shadow creating them seemed to be making more than before. Tenko knew that she, Usami, and Himiko were slowly getting surrounded, but it was hard to feel too threatened when a simple kick could break one of these Shadow’s in half. However, underestimating an enemy could prove fatal.

This time had given Tenko an opportunity to think though. This Shadow… it had to be Angie’s, right? That would explain why it could effectively turn into her, and could explain the whole ‘creating Shadows’ thing too- it was like creating art. Uh, kind of.

More worryingly though, not a single one of those robed Shadows had attacked yet. Tenko had to assume that it was Himiko’s Shadow making those ones, but its main body hadn’t shown itself once. Was it hiding back in the alleys? Or perhaps waiting in the shadows? Hmm… a Shadow in the shadows… 

“Nyeh!” 

Tenko immediately recognised the distress in that sound. Spinning, time felt as if it were slowing to a crawl while Tenko watched what was about to unfold. 

Right when she’d thought about those stupid roped Shadows again…! Dropping from somewhere above them, from who-knows-where, one of those Shadows was aiming for Himiko. And it was so close…! Tenko was positive she could see her own life flashing in the reflection of the shiny metal mere inches from Himiko’s delicate, fearful face. What… could she do? Was it possible to summon Eros right now? Would she even be able to use her Persona’s magic without hurting Himiko at this point? No, why was she still thinking, she just had to act! But no matter what… it was too late to…

An icicle rose from the ground, piercing the Shadow through its chest, arching around Himiko as if deliberately trying to avoid doing her harm. The hand holding the blade went limp, soon disappearing before it could touch Himiko.

Wait… an ice attack?

Feeling a smile spread over her face, Tenko turned her gaze in the direction of the bridge leading to the central island. Sure enough, there they were. Even if their bathtub chariot wasn’t the coolest mode of transportation. It wasn’t all of them though- Usami had already told her that Makoto wouldn’t be coming.

A ferocious gust parted the circle of Shadows surrounding the three of them, as Hajime and Hiyoko sped to join them. “Sorry for the wait,” Hajime shouted as he climbed over the side of Ame-no-Uzume, weapon clenched tightly in his palms.

“We would’ve been here sooner if SOMEONE wasn’t so slow,” Hiyoko pouted, side-eyeing Usami, while resting her chin on the side of the tub.

“Uuu-wah-wah-wah!” That cry was apparently Usami’s only response to Hiyoko. Though it might’ve been for the best to keep this conversation curt- they couldn’t just forget about the small army of Shadows encircling them. But with four of them together, there was no way they could lose to these things!

“So, what’s the current situation?” Hajime grunted, immediately getting to work in sweeping away some gathering Shadows. 

Usami took the lead on the explanation, which was fine by Tenko, she was content with just destroying all the Shadows she could. “So far, Himiko’s Shadow hasn’t made an appearance; instead, we’ve been stuck fighting the other one.”

“Angie’s, right?” Hajime asked.

Usami nodded. Or… kind of nodded. As much as she could with what little neck she had. “I’ve got a plan for Angie’s Shadow though. It has to directly control the Shadows that it is using to attack us right now, and that leaves it wide open for attack. So we need to distract it, while someone else gives it a beating! I’ll happily be the bait, and Tenko has taken too much damage for us to risk her going after Angie’s Shadow. Considering stat distribution… Sorry Hajime, but can you be the one to deal with this again?”

“Absolutely. What do you need me to do?” Hajime didn’t hesitate with his answer. It was actually pretty cool of him, even if Tenko was loathe to admit that someone was acting cooler than her in front of Himiko.

“If you creep through Electric Avenue,” Usami pointed to the alleyways. “You can sneak behind the Shadow, hopefully undetected. And then… BLAM!” Usami slammed her magic stick against the ground, obviously emulating what she must’ve imagined Hajime was going to do. “Can you do it, Hajime?”

“Yes. I can do it.”

“Then get ready to sneak. Hiyoko, you and I need to draw the attention of the Shadows, and Tenko, you need to protect Himiko. Stay out of combat whenever you can, got it?” Raising her stick into the air, Usami unleashed a mewling… battle cry? Battle squeak was probably more accurate of a description of the sound. Again, it was a little annoying that everyone was being so much cooler than her, but Tenko supposed it was a necessity this time.

Usami ran ahead, splitting off from the group, and charging into the hoard of approaching Shadows. Groaning, Hiyoko followed, keeping her distance and staying within Ame-no-Uzume, blasting wind spells into the crowd. To get as much attention off of Hajime as possible, Tenko fired a spell or two of her own into the swarm, igniting the field, followed up with a rain of arrows to really do some damage to the hoard. The group distraction seemed to work well enough- Hajime slunk off into the alleyways, without a single Shadow chasing him.

Everyone had their roles now; Tenko needed to focus all her efforts on protecting Himiko. The poor girl looked even more frightened and confused than before, which really shouldn’t have been a surprise. More people she knew had just shown up, blasting spells, riding in a floating bathtub, and they were all taking directions from a talking rabbit dressed as a magical girl… Putting it like that, Tenko was almost concerned with how little she’d questioned any of this before.

Kneeling before her friend, Tenko took both of her trembling hands in her own. “Please, don’t worry Himiko. With our friends here, there’s no way we aren’t going to get you back home safely. It’s gonna be alright, I promise. When we get out of here, I’ll explain all of this. I know it’s, uh, a bit much at first.” Meekly, Himiko nodded. If that was all she was able to respond with, that was fine. This whole situation was pretty insane, Tenko really couldn’t blame her for being overwhelmed. Not to mention all the stuff in her personal life leading up to this.

Standing back up, Tenko didn’t let go of the tiny, soft hand tightly clasping hers. “Stay close Himiko. I’m going to protect you, no matter what.” After all, there was the matter of Himiko’s Shadow. In a worst case scenario, it could take advantage of them all being split up… As much as that thought made her fear for Himiko, at least if that did happen, Hiyoko and Usami were close by. If that Shadow ambushed Hajime… no, he’d be fine. It was Hajime after all- he was a special type of boy. He was reliable when it mattered, could pull through when it mattered. 

…

Tenko could feel her chest tightening a little.

It was just a matter of waiting now… waiting for the right opportunity. Having worked his way through the alleys of the Avenue, Hajime had found the perfect exit point- one that was close to Angie’s Shadow, and out of its line of sight. The only problem was deciding on when to strike. Attacking immediately would relieve the others of danger, but being too hasty could be fatal if something drastically unexpected were to happen.

Then, something happened that forced Hajime to act. Mid-run, Usami had just… stopped moving. Something like that had never happened before… What, had the console run out of battery? Or worse… had something happened to Chiaki? Unfortunately, there was no way to check, and running away now wasn’t an option. He just had to trust that Chiaki was fine.

On the other hand, he couldn’t trust that Hiyoko would be fine. Hajime couldn’t see her face very clearly, but he could tell from her body language that she hadn’t been expecting whatever had just happened with Usami either. The decision had been taken out of his hands- he had to attack Angie’s Shadow now. Even if he couldn’t defeat it, if he could preoccupy it, Hiyoko wouldn’t be at risk of getting overwhelmed by all the Shadows she was now fighting alone. Plus, it would prevent the risk of Tenko getting antsy to protect Hiyoko, and stupidly rushing in.

Gripping his bat tightly, Hajime dashed out of the shadows. Quietly as he could, he rushed up to Angie’s Shadow, smashing his weapon down on top of it. It didn’t really make a sound when his attack connected, there was no grunt or squeal of pain, but specks of its liquid body splashed up into Hajime’s face due to the impact. Up close… it smelt kind of weird… Oh, right- figures Angie’s Shadow would have something to do with art. Unlike the other Shadows, this one was made of an easily identifiable substance- ink.

As expected, after the attack, Angie’s Shadow tried to escape, its viscous body flowing around Hajime’s bat as it lurched to the right. But having anticipated something like that, Hajime already had his counter prepared. He didn’t even need to snap his fingers before a thin stream of electricity zapped the fleeing Shadow, holding it in place for a brief second. This moment of paralysis was more than enough time for Herakles to then fly in, smashing its chariot into the frozen Shadow, knocking it back a good few feet, skimming across the ground.

That attack seemed to have knocked some of its body loose. With every bounce, the Shadow got slightly smaller, ink splashing over the ground, staining it with murky puddles. Hajime immediately took to chasing after it. Chances were, with himself and Herakles working together, they’d be able to take this Shadow down fairly easily.

But upon Hajime’s pursuit of the Shadow, he was met with an unexpected obstacle. From the puddles of ink, hands reached out to grab Hajime’s legs, which they successfully managed. His momentum suddenly lost, Hajime smacked into the ground, face first, with an audible thud. There was little time to waste recovering though; propping himself up on his arms, he looked ahead, towards the Shadow. He just needed to have Herakles go and-

“Wh-what the…” Where the Shadow had been laying before, now stood a decidedly more human figure. Still just as inky in appearance, but certainly humanoid. And not just any human either. Hajime could recognise that hair ribbon and layered skirt anywhere. 

Despite the sudden form change, Hajime’s plan remained unaltered. Assuming that this Shadow form utilised the Aikido he expected it to, Hajime was positive that Herakles would be fine in handling it alone. In the meantime, Hajime began to swipe at the hands holding his legs in place with his bat, an idea that proved surprisingly effective. With only a couple of hits to each, they evaporated like any other Shadow.

Looking back to the main fight… Wait, where did the Shadow go?

Picking himself up off the floor, his vision darkened slightly, as if clouds had just rolled in. Curiously, he tilted his head up, just in time to see an ink black foot flying his way.

In a desperate move, Hajime swung his bat through the air instead of blocking, or running away, and… it actually worked?! His swing hit the Shadow out of the sky, dropping it to the floor with a splat. However, in no time at all, the Shadow reformed itself, still keeping that Tenko-like shape. 

All that sparring was about to pay off though. This mimicry of Tenko wasn’t anything like the real one. Charging at Hajime, all its punches and kicks were obviously telegraphed, and Hajime had no problem avoiding most or blocking any others. And although this Shadow could replicate Tenko’s speed, Hajime had an advantage over that too.

A narrow wind jet, originating underneath the Shadows left foot, threw the assailant off balance. Hajime swung his bat with all the power he could at this close a range, splitting the inky Shadows torso in two. In a feat that only a Shadow could possibly perform, the Shadow responded by spitting ink into his face, and threw the top half of its fractured body into the air, using its bottom half as a launchpad. Hajime kicked the idle legs in front of him down onto the floor, stamping on them as he charged to meet the rest of the body before it hit the ground. But then, a better idea struck.

Concentrating behind the Shadow, Hajime summoned Herakles, who rammed into the soaring body, interrupting its flight path, and rocketing it back towards Hajime. He was already charging his swing. He wouldn’t miss. With this blow, he’d destroy the Shadow…

Even when it started to attempt another form change, Hajime didn’t waver. Even when the first comprehensive sound left the monsters mouth, he didn’t waver. But the scream it released upon impact with his weapon left him paralysed.

While Hajime had never heard Angie scream before… the screech that left the disappearing mouth of the Shadow emulated her voice perfectly.

As usual, the defeated Shadow began to evaporate into nothingness- Hajime could hear that sizzling sort of sound all around him. He’d won that fight, there was no doubt about that, and yet… at the end there, he didn’t really feel like celebrating. Hajime’s free hand clutched at his chest. Intentional or not, that Shadow had played a cruel joke in its final moment. 

Now the memory of finding Angie’s body was accompanied by more screams than just Tenko’s.

“HAJIME!” That voice snapped Hajime’s attention out of his own head. That was Chiaki’s voice, wasn’t it? This wasn’t just another Shadow trick, right?

Sure enough, it wasn’t. Turning his head to the side, Hajime glanced back at the main group. Chiaki was there, along with everyone else… as was a towering Shadow, draped in a crimson robe, looming over Hiyoko, the only line of defence between Himiko’s Shadow, and the vulnerable trio of Tenko, Himiko, and now Chiaki.

However… that wasn’t what Chiaki had shouted to Hajime about. She was pointing at him, not urging for him to rejoin them.

Hajime felt the blades cut into him before he had any time to react.

Makoto could feel his lungs straining to keep up with his legs, his feet already weary from the speed he was pushing himself to maintain. He couldn’t dawdle, he didn’t have the luxury of that. Besides, physical exhaustion wasn’t that much of a problem inside of the NWP, right? As soon as he entered, his vitality would be top notch again, right? Or was it that he’d enter the same, but wouldn’t really get more tired inside? 

Hmm… he really didn’t know much about the NWP’s workings. None of the team probably did. Maybe by some twist of fate, one of the key members working on the project would end up joining them too, so they could all ask directly? No, never mind… not only was he unsure of if those guys even knew what was going on with the machine, he didn’t want to wish potential harm on anyone.

Whatever the case, those sorts of thoughts soon left Makoto’s head when he saw the window he was supposed to enter through. Specifically, the distinct lack of ladder leading up to it. Oh, of course they weren’t gonna leave it down, no one else knew that he was coming, and leaving it out could draw severely unwanted attention.

What that did mean… was he’d have to go through the front. Okay… not too strange… technically students were allowed into school on Sunday’s, it was just that… getting caught going into the lab would be a pretty big problem. Not to mention the fact that he needed to get into the NWP as fast as possible.

Apparently his great luck had run dry. “Sorry guys… I’ll be there soon… I hope you’re all okay.”

Chiaki couldn’t remember the last time a scream that loud had left her mouth. Her vocal cords certainly weren’t used to it; her throat was already sore.

Tenko had taken her and Himiko further from the Shadow now attacking Hiyoko, but that wasn’t far. Chiaki had forbidden her from going far. Part of the reason was because Chiaki wanted to support Hajime and Hiyoko in any way she could, but the primary one was because… they couldn’t escape.

Using Narada’s analysis abilities, Chiaki had quickly figured out what the deal was with Himiko’s Shadow- it was a summoner, of sorts. Not unlike Angie’s, actually. Within Electric Avenue, the Shadow had placed a summoning circle, and that was what was producing the smaller Shadows currently attacking Hajime. But therein lay the problem. Narada’s capabilities were not exhaustive. Chiaki didn’t know how to get rid of the summoning circle- or if they even could for that matter- but, more importantly, she wasn’t sure if the two Shadow’s it spewed out was a hard limit. If it wasn’t… then Electric Avenue was potentially more deadly than standing between these two fights. A narrow set of alleyways, with three highly vulnerable people against who knows how many Shadows? It wasn’t something Chiaki was willing to let them risk.

So that was their situation. Two fights on either side, an expanse of sea behind, and a death trap in front.

At the very least, Hiyoko was doing fine in her battle. Himiko’s Shadow specialised in ranged, magic based attacks, the sort that Hiyoko could very swiftly dodge with her level of footwork, and any errant blasts aimed at the three of them Hiyoko easily blocked with Ame-no-Uzume. Even Hiyoko’s magic proficiency was helping a lot, she didn’t need to even try and get close. She was, however, conscious of the fact that she couldn’t attack too often- if her SP pool dried up, she wouldn’t be able to use her Persona defensively, which was the exact reason Tenko was a sitting duck right now. That and Tenko’s HP was critically low too.

Hajime… wasn’t fairing so well. It was just a poor match up of character classes. Like sending a Fighter into battle against a Swordmaster, or, or a first stage Fire type against a legendary Water type. Hajime just didn’t specialise in speed, that was the issue. Tenko could handle the small Shadows no problem because of her proficiency in power and speed, whereas Hajime… His slower, tankier stat build didn’t benefit him in a two-on-one fight against very fast enemies. They were chipping away at his HP faster than his defences could sustain him… 

What… could she do? How could she help this situation? All of her analysis… had just… told her what anyone else could see… She’d come in herself to help her friends with her power… in this situation, her power was meaningless… 

“What… what do I do, Tenko?” As Narada disappeared, Chiaki desperately turned to Tenko. Tenko was biting her lip, her face contorted in a pained expression. She, too was looking at Hajime’s plight… with such hopelessness painted in her eyes…

He couldn’t do anything.

He couldn’t win.

These Shadows would cut into his body, he’d swing, he’d miss… rinse and repeat.

If he did land a hit, caught that red smoke in his sights, a fleeting moment of relief would wash over him. Targeting just one was easier. Hajime could handle that. Then two more would appear. The cycle would restart.

This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. He… wasn’t supposed to die here… At the very least, he could buy time for everyone else. Keep these goons distracted while Hiyoko could defeat Himiko’s Shadow.

Hajime couldn’t summon Herakles. Maybe it was because he couldn’t concentrate for long enough to do it… though he had a feeling that it was more likely that he had simply exhausted his Persona. Or maybe his body was too exhausted to handle one.

Another cut in his arm. Another slice in his leg. The defensive stance Hajime had been holding crumbled upon a stab in his shoulder from behind. 

The Shadows continued to dance around him as his knees buckled. Blood pumping in his ears, Hajime couldn’t suppress the overwhelming quantity of fear burning inside him. He felt so powerless… and he had no doubt that his friends felt the same right now… Were they okay? So many of them were defenceless… He’d promised Chiaki he would protect her… Their entire purpose as a team was to prevent people falling victim to this place… And yet… if he fell here… Two vows, broken in one afternoon…

No… he couldn’t… 

Pooling together the last of his strength, Hajime, still grounded, spun on the spot, shakily lashing out with his bat. Miraculously, he connected his attack. One of the Shadows disappeared. One was left. Not that it was a unique situation, but… he could play this to his advantage. Hajime hadn’t failed to notice that these things came in pairs. Defending himself from one, that was far easier than two. That was the mistake he had been making. There was no need to keep on beating both, if only two could exist at one time.

But Hajime could feel how close he was to… to death. Everything was numb. His vision was blurring. He could barely hear anything other than his heart beat, and irregular breathing.

Hajime stumbled to his feet… but he didn’t know how long that would last. His opponent was still circling him; it was getting difficult to follow. He tried to- it only made him dizzy, disoriented. 

Unable to return to any defensive positioning, the Shadow kicked his weapon out of his hands. The following slash to his chest floored him again. 

Staring up at a cloudless sky, Hajime tried to stand. He couldn’t. The most he could manage was propping himself up on his elbows.

At least he could watch the Shadow kill him.

Cruelly, the Shadow had put, what seemed to Hajime’s failing eyes, a significant distance between itself and him. It gave him time to fully absorb just how powerless he was. How hopeless the situation was.

Hajime… wasn’t ready to die. This wasn’t the first time he’d felt close to it… yet this was the time he’d felt the least prepared to accept it. Dying here… put too many at risk… he couldn’t… he couldn’t die…

…

He was about to die.

Unprepared, and unwilling, Hajime squeezed his eyes shut as the Shadow lunged for him.

…

…

…

There was no pain. Nothing. Except… Hajime could still feel himself trembling. Feel his shirt sticking to his back. Had… he been saved by some miracle… again?

Hesitantly opening his eyes, Hajime immediately whimpered. The blade meant to kill him was pressing lightly into the bridge of his nose. 

And then it faded into a pale blue light.

Hajime didn’t see the Shadow disappear in that same light. It was impossible to.

Hajime could only see Tenko’s back.

Hajime could only see Tenko’s body limply crumple under its own weight.

What… was he seeing…?

Hajime moved forward, to catch Tenko’s body before it hit the ground, cradling her in his lap.

Tenko… was smiling. 

What…? How could she be…?

“D… don’t make… that face…”

Her lips barely moved. Her voice was so quiet. Hajime heard her loud and clear. “What did…? Why did-“

“I… told you earlier… didn’t I? I know… what you’re… like, Hajime… Please don’t blame your… self… I… did it because… this is what I… believe in…” In spite of the absence of life in her half-lidded eyes, Hajime could have sworn he’d never held such distinct eye contact with Tenko before. “You’re… a close friend… I… couldn’t just watch…” Tenko broke that eye contact- closing her eyes. “Please… l-look after…… Himi…… ko………”

…

Limp. Entirely, completely, limp.

“T… Tenko…? Ten… ko…?” This… wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real. This was Tenko, she couldn’t die!

Die…?

Tenko… died…?

Water splashed onto Tenko’s face. It wasn’t raining. Hajime was… just crying…

“T-T… Tenko…?” Hajime’s heart sank into a pit he didn’t know existed. Himiko’s soft, innocent question… stabbed his gut hoarder than any sword had today.

Himiko’s small, trembling frame sank down next to his. Her mouth ajar, Hajime could just about hear her muttering Tenko’s name. Over, and over, and over… Her tiny hands held Tenko’s face… Gripped her arm… Held her hand… Moved back to her face…

Footsteps. He heard footsteps. They weren’t from behind him. Looking up… Himiko’s Shadow was approaching them. But… it looked like Himiko again… Had Hiyoko…?

The Shadow crouched down by Tenko’s body too. While resting a gentle hand on Tenko’s exposed stomach, the Shadow lightly tapped Himiko on the head with the blunt end of its staff. Himiko hadn’t seemed to notice the Shadow was even there until it did so. “Even now? Do you not remember what I said to you before?”

“…” Himiko stared at her Shadow. Tears were welling in her eyes, but she didn’t say anything.

“Your words won’t reach her anymore. But did something like that ever stop her? Tenko must have believed that her words would never reach you; that never stopped her from trying. Why don’t you learn from her?”

The Shadow lowered its staff. Himiko didn’t speak right away, Hajime wondered if she would ever find the words she’d want to say… Sure enough though… “I… I’m… I’m so sorry Tenko…!” Those tears that had been building in her eyes finally started to flow. ‘I… I’ve just been trying to push all my problems onto you… Making you deal with them for me! I-I couldn’t help it… I just wanted to escape from it all… a-and you were always there by my side… You were always trying so hard to help, so I… I thought that it would be-that it would be okay to just let you deal with everything for me… That was wrong, I know it was wrong, but I’m not strong like you Tenko! I’m weak… an-and without y-y-you… I-I-I’ll be… so lonely…! You… and Angie… you’re both my-my best friends…! Now… you’re both just… gone… I-I never got… a chance to thank… either of you…! For being there for me when I was being selfish… or-or ignoring you… or making you handle stuff for me…! S-so… thank you for everything Tenko! I’m a t-terrible person, and an even worse friend… I’ll never deserve the kindness you showed me, but I’ll always be thankful for it! I know I don’t mean this in the way you would have wanted, but… I-I love you Tenko… I… I’ll never… ever… forget you… Good… bye… Ah-!” There was no way she could have said any more. Himiko’s tearful wails overtook everything else. Hajime wanted to join her; tears were all he could muster.

A soft blue glow filled his blurred vision. Himiko’s Shadow… was satisfied. While Himiko continued to weep, blind to everything around her, her Shadow bowed its head respectfully as it slowly began to disappear. Its glow… was so bright… Hajime could’ve sworn Tenko’s body was giving off a glow all its own, just like the Shadow…

The light was such a warm embrace. So gentle. It… seemed like it was actually congregating around Himiko… or perhaps he was just imagining all of this, and the Shadow just vanished like usual.

What was like usual was the fact that Himiko’s tears soon came to an end, her body falling against Hajime’s. More than anyone before her… she had a right to be so tired.

‘Protect Himiko’. Hajime looked to his side. To the girl now resting against his arm, her pink cheeks stained with tears. “I will Tenko… in your stead…”

Warmth spread throughout Hajime’s body. It was… rejuvenating, even.

Hiyoko stood silently, her arms folded while she watched the healing glow of Makoto’s magic wrap around Hajime. 

She wasn’t the only silent one. Chiaki was glumly looking at her feet, Makoto’s expression was uncharacteristically steely. The two sitting by the body of their friend were silent too.

As soon as Makoto lowered his hands, his healing done, Hiyoko made her move. Pushing Makoto out if the way, she stormed over to Hajime, hooking her fingers under his collar, and pulling him back. His back hit the ground, accompanied by a short grunt. Himiko had also fallen over thanks to that, though she was the least of Hiyoko’s concerns.

Pointing her fan at Hajime, Hiyoko glared at him with the coldest look she could give. “What have you done?”

“Wh-what…?”

“Don’t give me that clueless bullshit! This is your fault!” Hiyoko spat at Hajime. He visibly winced. Good.

Makoto’s hand grabbed her shoulder, and pulled her away. “Hiyoko?! What are you doing?! Hajime needs to-“

“Do you seriously not get it?!” Hiyoko snapped. “Open your eyes, dumbass! He’s the murderer we’re supposed to be catching!”

“Wh-what?” Makoto reeled back slightly, clutching at the zip on his hoodie.

“Oh, come on! WHO has been able to go in here since day one? Hajime. WHO mysteriously manages to find every single body? Hajime. WHO was the one who lead our leader into a death trap?! Hajime! It’s so obviously him that it’s painful!”

Obviously at a loss for words, Makoto looked to Hajime, desperation leaking from every pore on his stupid face. “H-Hiyoko… No, I refuse to accept that! None of that is definitive proof of anything. And… and it just isn’t in Hajime’s character, I know he wouldn’t kill anyone!”

“Really?” Hiyoko could feel her lips curling into a mischievously poisonous smirk. “Wasn’t he there when your girlfriend got shot too? Are you really gonna turn a blind eye to his crimes?”

“That’s… Hajime was there because he would have been on guard duty at the time! It’s only natural that he’d run to the scene of the crime if he heard a gunshot!” Despite the confidence Makoto displayed in that dramatic point of his, Hiyoko could tell that it was a front. His extended finger was quivering way too much to be convincing.

Stepping towards him, Hiyoko pushed her closed fan into Makoto’s chest. “You know that evidence is pathetic. It isn’t even evidence. Considering how you’re defending him, maybe you’re an accomplice? Come to think of it, you’ve been able to enter since the start too, right?”

“W-well, I-“

“That’s enough…!” Chiaki stepped between the two of them, pushing both back a little. “Please… stop fighting…” Chiaki was looking forlornly at the three bodies on the floor. One dead, one passed out, one useless. Hajime hadn’t even tried to defend himself against her accusations. Utterly useless. “I think… you’re just upset Hiyoko. For now, please don’t-“

“Shut up, you ugly troll! You think I JUST started suspecting him? I’ve had my eyes on him since I joined you losers! I’ve suspected him from the start!” Turning away from her old allies, Hiyoko started to walk away. “It doesn’t even matter anyway. Whether he’s the criminal you wanna catch or not, YOU now have a dead body in your possession. What are we gonna do with her?! We can’t leave her here, but if we take her out, what are we gonna do then? Get caught with a victim, and then get convicted of crimes most of us didn’t commit! Don’t you see?! That guy has trapped us in an unescapable situation!” None of them had a response to that. Of course they didn’t- she was right.

“H-hey, Hiyoko, where are you going?!” Makoto’s whiny voice followed her as she left. Ugh, so annoying…

“Shut up! I’m done working with you criminals! I don’t care what happens to the rest of you, I don’t wanna be involved anymore!”

They didn’t chase after her. Why would they? They knew she was right about this whole thing. 

Hiyoko didn’t look back as she stomped away. She really shouldn’t have been surprised that this happened. The dumb ones always made things worse for everyone else. Idiots like Tenko… Hiyoko hated idiots like Tenko. For Chiaki to even suggest that she was upset over this…!

She waited until she was far out of their sights before drying her eyes on her kimono sleeve.

After Hajime had regained enough energy to stand again, the three remaining allies stood around Tenko and Himiko. “Hiyoko made a good point… What do we do now?” Makoto asked. And he really meant it. While he disagreed with Hiyoko’s ultimate conclusion on the killers identity, he knew she was right about the situation with Tenko.

“I… I think that… I… I don’t know…” As expected, Chiaki was at a loss for words. Hajime remained entirely silent, looking down emotionlessly. Asking him right now… was pointless.

What a disaster… Although they had saved Himiko from death… was she really going to be okay? Tenko dying… wasn’t something that she’d just get over. Not only that, Hiyoko had made it very clear that she wanted nothing to do with them. The potential consequences of that… who could say. Worst of all… Tenko…

If only he’d arrived sooner. HE was the team support. If HE had been here to heal… None of this would have happened…

Now… because of him… they might as well be murderers too… 

In the end, they’d chosen to leave Tenko inside the NWP. Not forever, just… until they could figure out what to do.

Hajime had passed out pretty much the second they had left too. Makoto and Chiaki had left him and Himiko to rest against a wall in the tech lab.

“I’m going to stay here… I’ll spend the night here with Hajime…” Chiaki’s idea seemed a little risky, but it was for the best. Makoto knew someone should stay with him tonight, for his own safety. Plus, this way, Chiaki could look after both him and Tenko, using Usami.

That left him to take Himiko back to the dorms when she woke up. Before that though… “Hey, Chiaki? There’s a lot I want to ask you, about today-“

“Yeah… Actually, there were some things I observed today too… Some pretty important stuff actually… I think…”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but… can we talk about it tomorrow?” Chiaki… she did look tired. They all did. Except for himself, if he had to guess. He’d thought he’d had a stroke of good luck today. He couldn’t have been more wrong…

Returning to the dorms in the dead of night, Himiko couldn’t help but feel afraid. Makoto, the boy escorting her back, had promised he’d protect her, and that nothing bad was going to happen. His words weren’t very convincing.

Yet, they made it back without incident. Upon returning though, Himiko noticed it. Something important resting on one of the chairs in the lounge of the dorms. The very thing that had effectively been the cause of all this. Her school bag.

Breaking away from Makoto, Himiko ran up to it. All because she’d dropped it outside… when she went to pick it up, something had happened to her. She was still struggling to remember. It was kinda weird though… she didn’t remember dropping it… Maybe she had just been mistaken yesterday? Maybe it hadn’t actually been her bag, rather it was someone else’s, and she’d just absentmindedly gone to pick it up…

Whatever the truth of that situation was, Himiko hurriedly flipped open the bag on the chair. She’d know if it was hers right away. There would be something incredibly important inside. Yes, there it was, this was her bag, at the very least. If only she could be so sure about the bag that had lured her outside yesterday.

Reaching inside, Himiko pulled out a piece of paper. It was a little crumpled at the corners, a small tear or two around the edges… but this was one of the single most important things in her life.

At the end of March, when they’d all been officially accepted into Hope’s Peak after their trial year, Angie had painted something for Himiko, to celebrate the occasion. It was something so simple… but it hadn’t left Himiko’s bag since that day. 

Holding it tight against her chest, Himiko felt more tears begin to form in her eyes. Now, more than ever, this painting meant the world to her. An important reminder of what once was.

Himiko had questioned herself on it before, but now she was certain- it wasn’t at all silly for her personal treasure to be a panting of herself, standing between her two best friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the one, the chapter that I've had in the works pretty much since the conception of this fanfic. The one I have changed time and time again- I'm sure it hasn't gone unnoticed that it still took me a month to get a chapter that should've been almost finished already out. I do hope it's enjoyable, when you work on something for as long as I have this, you tend to find that you can't judge it at all. 
> 
> Now, this may sound stupid, coming from the person who's schedule is basically 'post once a month' at this point, but I'm going to go on another short break. From the main story, anyway. I do, after all, need to finish the character sheets I promised, and there's an entirely unrelated one-shot I really want to write, the concept of which I came up with back at the beginning of January. I won't be gone for too long on this fic, but if it's a tad longer than usual, you know why.
> 
> By the way, it is a complete coincidence that Chapter 53 of all chapters ended up being such a big/important one. 
> 
> Fool- Jabberwock Extraction Team: Rank 3  
> Magician- Hiyoko Saionji: Rank 2  
> Priestess- Chiaki Nanami: Rank 2  
> Empress- After School Lessons: Rank 2  
> Emperor- Student Council: Rank 1  
> Lovers- Komaru Naegi: Rank 1  
> Chariot- Martial Artists: Rank 5  
> Temperance- Koichi Kizakura: Rank 3  
> Devil- Miu Iruma: Rank 3  
> Star- Makoto Naegi: Rank 4  
> Moon- Chihiro Fujisaki: Rank 2  
> Aeon- Sonia Nevermind: Rank 3  
> Jester- Gundham Tanaka: Rank 3


End file.
